Max Verstappen is a hardcore sim racing enthusiast and takes his virtual racing accolades very seriously. But during a 24 Hour race on iRacing at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps back in 2019, the Dutchman suffered from an unfortunate brake mishap but was saved by Lando Norris.
Verstappen was racing for his sim racing outfit, Team Redline at a special iRacing endurance race at Spa. However, with only just a handful of laps to go, his sim racing equipment failed as he broke his brake pedal.
Unable to continue, Norris, who was also on the stream, volunteered to step into the car for the final few laps. Verstappen somehow managed to get the car back to the pits as Norris substituted in for him. However, with a huge lead already in the bag, Redline ever able to take the win of the race. Incidentally, it was their first-ever overall class win in a 24-hour virtual sim race.
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Throughout this ordeal, the McLaren racing driver was in splits laughing. At first, he thought this was a prank. However, Verstappen explained to him the gravity of the situation. Still coping with the hilarity of the situation, the #4 driver coaxed the team over the line to secure the win.
Since 2019, however, the hectic schedule that being an F1 driver brings has forced Norris to retire from streaming. Verstappen, on the other hand, is still an avid sim racer. However, more recently, his sim racing has garnered quite a bit of negative attention.
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During the 2024 Hungarian GP, Verstappen was quite frustrated with how the race was panning out. The media picked up on his irritable mood and connected it with the fact that maybe he did not get enough sleep the night before as he was sim racing for Team Redline quite late into the night.
The Dutchman received a lot of backlash from paddock regulars, fans on social media and experts. This even prompted Christian Horner to come out with a statement that they would investigate Verstappen’s sim racing priorities and also put a leash on it.
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Nico Rosberg: “And at the same time in contrast, you had Verstappen who until 3 am last night was sim racing. And that’s a bit disappointing. It just shows to he’s too used to his ease of domination.” pic.twitter.com/y2pmssJ7IU
— devyani (@formula_dev) July 21, 2024
However, during the 2024 Belgian GP weekend, Verstappen himself rubbished those talks. Motorsport.com quoted him as saying, “I mean, I’ve won three world championships, I think I know pretty well what I can and what I cannot do.”
