Max Verstappen, Formula 1’s three-time reigning world champion, is scheduled to race in iRacing Nürburgring 24 this weekend with sim racing outfit Team Redline. There’s just one small hitch: F1 is the same racing in Imola this weekend. Verstappen assured everyone that this was no big deal as he always raced on F1 weekends.
Participating in a 24-hour race, even within the limitations of a simulator, is no easy feat. The immediate concern is whether Verstappen will be fully rested when he climbs his F1 car onto the grid. The Red Bull Racing driver is in a slump by his standards. He finished second behind McLaren’s Lando Norris in the Miami Grand Prix, Previous round of F1. He was also a quarter of a second slow after Imola’s first practice session on Friday. Sport car spoke to Verstappen about juggling iRacing with F1:
“It was a 24-hour race and I think there were four of us in the car. But of course, I didn’t have much time, Saturday night and Sunday morning,” Verstappen explained. “[I have] two to four hours, if I’m going to do it. It depends a little bit on how it plays out over time.
“Of course, you have to go to bed on time and get enough sleep to start Sunday well-rested. You can’t decide for people what they do on Saturday night. People can go out to dinner, do crazy things…
“It’s my free time and I think I’m professional enough to figure out for myself what’s okay and what’s not okay.”
Verstappen, who made his world championship debut at the age of 17, has not yet completely shaken off his image as a fool. For many people, he is still a child almost a decade later. Sim racing also carries the image of just a video game although most professional racers use it as a tool to learn new tracks and practice their skills off the track.
Virtual version of classic German endurance tournament is one of iRacing’s biggest events of the year and this year it’s even more special. This will be the first edition to feature rain when iRacing rolls out its new dynamic weather system in March.
