No more nighttime simracing for Max Verstappen at the Grands Prix!

It has become an almost usual image during Grands Prix, that of Max Verstappen at the wheel of his specially designed simulator in his motor home. Because in addition to his exploits on the track, the three-time world champion Formula 1 also excels in virtual races, where he regularly wins with Team Redline, in competition events.Endurance the most prestigious on the iRacing platform. This was again the case last weekend, where between qualifying and the Hungarian Grand Prix race, Verstappen contributed to a victory obtained at the 24 Hours of Spa.

Launched on the Spa track until 3:18 a.m., Verstappen had a difficult race on Sunday, appearing in particular on edge on the radio, in the conversations he had with his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. Fifth at the finish, the pilot Red Bull was less successful than during the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, where this same simracing regime did not prevent him from winning in real life as well. “It’s a little disappointing. This shows that Max is a little too accustomed to the ease that his dominance in the sport gives him. On the other side, you have a Lando Norris who went to bed at 23 p.m. to wake up at 8 a.m. He is super professional”, explained 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg this weekend, speaking to Sky Sports F1.

Less simracing for Verstappen

It seems that this opinion is now shared by the Austrian team. Helmut Marko, special advisor to the team, raised the subject during his traditional post-race debriefing on SpeedWeek.com. If the Austrian admitted that this had not posed a problem at Imola, the difficulties encountered by Verstappen this Sunday pushed the two parties to agree on a reduction in the time spent online by the Dutchman.

« Max Verstappen was rather touchy this weekend, and the criticism was obviously quick to come in – which is not surprising, since he spends half the night playing racing simulations. I have to say that at Imola he only went to bed at three in the morning after a simulator session – and he went on to win the Grand Prix. Max has a different sleep pattern, and he got his seven hours of sleep. If he took part in a simulator session late at night on the Hungarian weekend, it was because a driver on his team withdrew. Still, we agreed that he wouldn't do a simulator this late in the future. »

The key to regained serenity?

If the simulator is today an essential tool in the preparation of race weekends for teams, these are usually state-of-the-art models, designed for use by professional Formula 1 teams for validation purposes. and data correlation. Nothing to do with iRacing, a highly realistic platform of course, but intended for “ordinary mortals”, who can thus measure themselves against dozens of real drivers. And being able to face Max Verstappen, one of the best drivers on the planet, is undoubtedly a privilege and a proximity to maintain!

However, perhaps it is not very wise for Verstappen to play the game in such a public way. Indeed, his relays are generally broadcast live on the Twitch platform, exposing him firstly to unforeseen slip-ups (as could have happened to Kyle Larson), secondly, to criticisms like those which were formulated following his Grand Hungarian prices more disappointing than usual. In this sense, the decision of Red Bull and its driver is logical, in order to guarantee the serenity of a team in the eye of the storm since the start of the season, and which had managed to calm things down on the media level. at the outbreak of the Christian Horner affair.

The radio exchanges between Verstappen and Lambiase were therefore not welcome during the Grand Prix, it now remains to be seen whether his nocturnal simracing sessions were the cause of such words this Sunday. Or if Max Verstappen's heightened susceptibility is a sign of greater concerns among the reigning world champions...

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