Three-times Formula one world champion banned by Red Bull from sim racing before F1 races

Three-times Formula One world champion Max Verstappen has been told by the Red Bull to stop sim racing into the early hours before races. This comes after facing backlash since last weekend’s fiery Hungarian Grand Prix.

Boss of Red Bull Christian Horner and Helmut Marko defended Verstappen’s foul-mouthed outbursts in Hungary after they were linked to the Netherlands driver were seen or cached while he played the gaming until 3am of Sunday morning.

Marko has confirmed that the team had just reached an agreement with driver Max Verstappen for him to avoid any sim racing the night before the main event Grand Prix, while the championship threatening to twist on it’s head after McLaren dominated the weekend that saw several confrontational messages between the 26 year-old and his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

Marko wrote in a column for Speed-week where he stated that Verstappen didn’t go to bed until three in the morning after the session of sim racing and he won the grand prix.

Marko said ”Max Verstappen was rather thin-skinned this weekend and of course, it didn’t take long for criticism to arise and no wonder, since he spends half the night playing sim racing, I have to say that in Imola he didn’t go to bed until three in the morning after a sim-racing session and then won the grand prix. Max has a different sleep pattern and he had his seven hours of sleep.

”His late-night sim appearance on the Hungary weekend only came about because a driver in his team had dropped out. Nevertheless we agreed that he would no longer run simulations so late during the event in the future.”

Verstappen will be heading to this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps facing 10th place grid penalty as he is expected to exceed his engine allowance for the season that put him at an immediate wrong-foot heading to championship with his rival Lando Norris.

Verstappen out of anger told his critics ‘that ”they can all f—– off” after it was suggested afterwards he had been disrespectful to his team. This was after the commentary Croft said ”I don’t want to sound too critical, but Max Verstappen is sounding like a man who stayed up late last night doing a sim race, which he did and then got up early this morning to do a sim race, Which he did, rather than getting a good night’s sleep in Budapest, Which by the sounds of it, he could probably have done with.”

Verstappen became the double champions of race in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah as well as Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola despite all the clips of him gaming into the early hours of race day going viral.

Verstappen revealed that he is not happy at all after he saw McLaren finish first and second.

Verstappen said ”Of course I’m not happy. On a day when we’re already lacking pace compared to McLaren, you try to hope we do the right things with the strategy, which today was not the case.”

Verstappen went on to defend the scandal of his fiery radio exchanges by saying ”I don’t think we need to apologise. I just think we need to do better job. I don’t know why people think you cannot be vocal on a radio. This is a sport. If some people don’t like that then stay home.”

BY LUCKY SEANEGO