Max Verstappen’s sim racing obsession and Le Mans ambitions

Verstappen shocked the F1 paddock when he dovetailed the Imola Grand Prix with a Nurburgring 24 Hours sim race – both of which he won.

The Red Bull driver claimed the chequered flag at Imola just 15 minutes after Verstappen’s co-driver Chris Lulham sealed his team’s victory at the Nordschleife on iRacing, the simulator platform the Nurburgring 24 Hours took place on.

It received a lot of attention throughout the weekend, but Red Bull team boss Christian Horner squashed any concerns that Verstappen’s sim racing commitments would negatively impact his hunt for a fourth consecutive F1 world championship.

“He is basically a racing machine, so it is quite often he is testing different set-ups in the evening and this kind of thing, so it is not unusual for him to be doing that,” said Horner. “He has won two races today. One in a BMW M3 and one in a Formula 1 car.”

So how long has Verstappen competed in sim racing and what might the future hold?

What is Max Verstappen’s sim racing team?

Verstappen drives for Team Redline, which is a professional outfit competing at the highest level of endurance sim racing.

The organisation was founded in 2000 by Dom Duhan, who spotted an increase in the market after he’d competed across various racing titles himself. Redline has since become one of the most successful teams in the industry, winning titles like the iRacing World Championship Grand Prix Series from 2012 to 2015.

Redline’s competitiveness has not waned over the years either, and 2022 was a particularly strong one with victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours before dominating the BMW Sim GT Cup, Formula Pro Series, Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup and DTM Esports.

It all led to Redline winning the Autosport Esports Team of the Year Award in 2022.

But seven years before that, its partnership with Verstappen began. This came as a result of Redline director Atze Kerkhof working with the then-F1 rookie during his F3 campaign at Van Amersfoort Racing in 2014. The two developed a good rapport while spending time in the team’s simulator, so Kerkhof offered Verstappen an opportunity at Redline.

Redline has long been known for its ability to attract big-name drivers though, because Verstappen joined a line-up that already consisted of Richie Stanaway, who has won in various real-life series including GP2, GP3 and the World Endurance…