Max Verstappen hit with hefty double penalty as F1 off-season race goes badly wrong
Max Verstappen was hoping to win the virtual 24 Hours of Daytona race, but the Dutchman’s team ended up finishing fourth after he was involved in a crash and received two major penalties
Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen is staying busy during the off-season, with the Dutchman entering the virtual 24 Hours of Daytona race.
Verstappen won the Esports event last year in the GTD class alongside Ole Steinbraten and Gianni Vecchio for Team Redline. He entered the GTP class this year with teammates Diogo Pinto and Chris Lulham, but was unable to pick up another win after a huge crash.
Verstappen’s team were leading the race when he attempted an overtake at the International Horseshoe hairpin. However, his car appeared to aquaplane and he made contact with the other vehicle and crashed it into the barrier.
He was able to return to the race, but Redline’s lead slipped while they visited the pit lane. Despite their best attempts to recover, Redline ended up finishing fourth with Verstappen also given two huge 40-second time penalties for driving into the pit lane in an unsafe manner.
Verstappen is a huge fan of sim racing, having been a member of Redline since 2015. Speaking back in 2022, Verstappen claimed that sim racing has helped him become a better Formula 1 driver.
“It keeps me ready to go, because I’m spending a lot of time also then on the setup,” Verstappen told CarNext. “I’m not racing a Formula 1 car on the simulator, but it’s like GT cars, so it’s also a different technique of driving.
“I just keep testing myself, and especially these sim drivers… they’re so quick! “It’s very interesting to see them drive because they have no real experience of a car but, somehow, when you look at how they’re braking, how they’re controlling, it is how it should be.
“It’s very interesting for me to then compare myself to them, because they’re naturally quick on the sim, I’m naturally quick in real life. For me, that’s another motivation, because I know that I’m confident that when I want to jump in a real car, I’ll be quick.
