Verstappen ‘not banned’ from late-night sim racing

Max Verstappen says he will continue to take part in sim races on grand prix weekends after laughing away suggestions that his hobby somehow affected his Formula 1 performances.

Verstappen finished fifth in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, in which the Dutchman appeared to be particularly irritable and frustrated with his strategy, and his Red Bull survived a collision with Lewis Hamilton‘s Mercedes.

The triple world champion soon received fan criticism over taking part in the iRacing Spa 24 Hours until 3am on Sunday morning. And, after discussing the topic with Red Bull, team advisor Helmut Marko suggested Verstappen had agreed to stop taking part in sim races late into the night on grand prix weekends.

“Max has a different sleep rhythm and he had his seven hours of sleep,” Marko told the Red Bull-owned publication Speedweek.

“His late-night sim race on the Hungarian weekend only came about because a driver in his team was cancelled. Nevertheless, we have agreed that he will no longer drive sims so late in future.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, collide

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Verstappen laughed away suggestions that his late night exploits somehow affected him and said he would continue combining it with his F1 duties.

“We talked about it,” Verstappen said. “There is no other sim race coming up anyway, so no one needs to worry about that.

“So no, it’s not that I have a ban or whatever. I also don’t need to tell them what they do in their private time and during the weekends, and that’s the same to me.

“Racing till 3am is not something new and, for me, it’s something very important in my life.”

Verstappen also pointed out he won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola after a late night sim racing session as well, and was bemused by people trying to find reasons to criticise him for not finishing on the podium in Hungary.

“It’s always when you don’t win the race, [people] will always blame it on: ‘Ahh, he’s staying up until 3am or he’s being one kilo overweight,'” he said. “There are always things to make up that you can argue about when you’re not winning a race.

“But, for example, in Imola I do win the race – both of them. I’ve been doing this since 2015. So for me, this is not something that is any different in my preparation.

“I mean, I’ve won three world championships, I think I know…