what it’s like battling the F1 champ

Around Christmas time last year, Luke Small, a 35-year-old from England, sat down at his PC to play iRacing, his favorite sim-racing platform. He was expecting another routine race when an eye-catching username joined his open lobby: “Jos Verstappen.” 

Small’s jaw dropped.

“I was just…really excited,” he recalls, chuckling.

Within the iRacing community, that handle is known as one of the accounts (plural) belonging to Max Verstappen. Yes, that Max Verstappen. See, iRacing accounts are connected to credit cards, and there are no handles, only real names. His main account, “Max Verstappen,” is reserved for high-level races in order to keep his iRating pristine, while his alternate account is named after his father. There are rumors he has a third handle with his full name, “Max-Emilian Verstappen.” (It’s common for pro-level sim racers to have two handles, because iRacing separates ratings for oval tracks and road courses, and some—like Max—will want to protect their strongest track rating.)

 “To be fair, [racing against pros] is not uncommon in iRacing,” Small adds. “A lot of professionals use it, and you can end up with them quite regularly, which is very cool.”

But Verstappen is Verstappen. The three-time Formula 1 champion seemingly spends more time on the sim for Red Bull than any of his peers—so much so, that he’s got a side-hustle as one of the best sim racers in the world. 

He’s been a part of sim-racing organization Team Redline since 2015, competing with the group in some of sim-racing’s most prestigious competitions. This season, Verstappen’s sim-racing obsession has sometimes collided with his day job. He pulled off an incredible feat in May, claiming victory at Formula 1’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in real life while simultaneously winning the virtual 24 Hours of Nürburgring with Team Redline, all thanks to a sim rig set up in his mobile home, which he played in between his F1 duties. Then, in July, Verstappen won the virtual 24 Hours of Spa, racing until 3 a.m. on Sunday morning before competing in the Hungarian Grand Prix. His real-life performance—fifth place after qualifying third and a race spent berating his team—lead Red Bull to request that he not sim race quite so late during Formula 1 weekends. 

For Small, the opportunity…