Max Verstappen couldn’t have started his title-defending 2024 season any better, as he stormed his way to victory in the Bahrain GP. However, the three-time world champion found time to play EA FC 24 while everyone else on the paddock might have been worried about their first race of the season.
Verstappen’s love for video games is no secret, as he is also part of a professional sim racing team. However, ESPN F1 recently shared a post on Instagram where the 26-year-old was spotted livestreaming EA FC 24 from his hotel room the night before the 2024 F1 season began. Naturally, fans were amazed to see the Dutchman playing video games, and not worrying about his first race in Bahrain.
Many fans started joking about how the Red Bull driver is confident about winning the title again in 2024. It seems they weren’t wrong in thinking so, as Verstappen dominated in the first race. He took back every single point he could have earned in Bahrain, including one point for the fastest lap. Moreover, he finished 22.457 seconds ahead of teammate Serio Perez.
This is not the first time when the 26-year-old indulged himself in little EA FC action before a race. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner revealed Verstappen was playing FIFA hours before the US GP 2021, which he ended up winning after a tough battle against the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Max Verstappen recently gave a tough fight to a FIFA champion
The reigning F1 world champion is not just a casual EA FC player, as he can even hold on his own against a professional. Viaplay, Verstappen’s sponsors, posted a video on YouTube last month where he played EA FC 24 against Koen Weijland, a five-time FIFA (now EA FC) world champion.
Facing a pro-EA FC player could be the worst dream for a casual gamer since the former can rain down goals. However, Verstappen gave quite a good fight to Weijland. Although he lost the match, it was only a 2-0 defeat and the EA FC-pro didn’t even go easy on the three-time F1 champion.
Verstappen doing so well in FIFA might not be surprising since he is among the top EA FC players in the world. He once held a worldwide rank of 21 on FIFA 19 and also found himself among the top 50 in the previous installment. It is a given that the Dutchman likes being the best whether it’s on the F1 grid or an in-game soccer pitch.
