The 3-time Formula 1 world champion, Max Verstappen, is on his way to securing his fourth consecutive championship. However, he faces criticism from his bosses when he plays a little longer. But the driver refuses to be forbidden from racing on virtual tracks, regardless of how late he stays up.
What does Verstappen play? Racing driver Verstappen is not only skilled at the real steering wheel. He is a passionate gamer of racing simulations, known as sim racing. He primarily plays the simulation of iRacing.
Together with his Redline team, which is part of Red Bull like his team in Formula 1, he also participates in international races and tournaments. Especially the so-called 24-hour races sometimes require him to be active on the virtual track until 3:00 AM, even when he has to sit in the real cockpit just a few hours later.
This doesn’t please everyone. Since there have been some setbacks for Team Red Bull in Formula 1 this season, Verstappen has also had to deal with criticism from within his own ranks. This criticism primarily targets his hobby.
Criticism of Verstappen’s outburst: “because he plays all night long”
Where does the criticism come from? The criticism primarily comes from Verstappen’s top boss, Red Bull’s motorsport chief, Helmut Marko.
The occasion for the criticism was Verstappen’s comments during the Hungarian Grand Prix. Here, the driver expressed his dissatisfaction with the race’s progress and his team’s decisions, clearly voicing his displeasure to his engineers (via sport1).
In the end, only a disappointing fifth place was achieved for the reigning world champion. But the conflict that raged within the team was much worse.
Boss Marko then accused his protégé of being thin-skinned. However, his outburst was not surprising, as he had “played sim racing half the night before the race.” This should not happen again in the future. (via speedweek)
According to Marko, after this incident, an agreement was reached with Verstappen that he would no longer participate in sim racing so late.
Verstappen defies criticism: “I’ve been doing this since 2015”
How does Verstappen respond? Verstappen currently wants nothing to do with a ban on playing until the early morning hours before races. At the press conference before the Grand Prix in Belgium, a week after the outburst in Hungary, he stated:
“I don’t need to tell people what to do with their free time, and vice versa applies to me as well.” He continues: “For me, this (referring to late-night sim racing, even before a Grand Prix, note of the editor) is nothing new. I’ve been doing this since 2015.” (via f1-insider)
As a 3-time world champion, he knows what he can and cannot do before races.
Only success may prove the champion right over the short or long term. A week after his outburst, Verstappen finished in fourth place at the Belgian Grand Prix. Whether he also prepared for the race with a longer sim racing session the night before is unknown. The disputes with his team seem temporarily forgotten. Things are different in the team of a major developer: Destiny 2: Bungie loses 450 employees, including the most experienced – halting all projects except 2
