Max Verstappen will discontinue his late-night sim racing sessions, as confirmed by Red Bull F1 senior advisor Helmut Marko following recent criticism.
Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s senior advisor, has confirmed that Max Verstappen will cease late-night simulator racing following criticism of his 3 a.m. sim session before the Hungarian Grand Prix. Marko admitted Red Bull’s performance lagged behind McLaren and held Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton responsible for their late-race contact.
We had covered this situation with Verstappen sim racing before major F1 races and could see this would happen.
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Questions emerged regarding whether Verstappen’s late-night sim racing impacted his temperament during the Hungarian GP. His frustration was evident through frequent radio complaints to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase about the car’s understeering and team strategy. Verstappen ultimately finished P5 after colliding with Hamilton, while teammate Sergio Perez secured P7.
Whilst his sim racing attributes have outstanding credibility, the crossover of time spent on the simulator has had a negative effect on his focus to real world F1 racing. Don’t get me wrong, Max is an amazing driver, but time spent on focus, downtime and sleep has to be analysed, hence Marko’s decision.
In his column on Speedweek.com, Marko highlighted an agreement with Verstappen to halt late-night sim racing. Marko also noted Verstappen’s different sleep pattern and previous success, such as in Imola, where he raced until 3 a.m. and then won the Grand Prix. Despite this, the team agreed that Verstappen will no longer engage in late-night sim sessions moving forward.
Will Max obey these orders, only time will tell.