Max Verstappen News: F1 champion's hack revealed despite Red Bull hobby BAN

Max Verstappen

Verstappen hobby hack revealed despite Red Bull BAN

Max Verstappen's hobby has been called into question recently

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 18 August 2024 19:27

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Max Verstappen’s secret work around for his ‘banned’ hobby has been revealed by one of his fellow racers in a recent interview.

The three-time world champion has become infamous for frequently partaking in sim racing, having been part of Team Redline since 2015.

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Not only is the Dutchman a keen sim racer at home, but has been known to take his set-up with him to F1 race weekends as well.

Verstappen impressively clinched a grand prix win at Imola this year, whilst also claiming a victory in the virtual 24 Hours of Nurburgring the same weekend.

Max Verstappen won in Imola and claimed a sim racing victory all in the same weekend

Max Verstappen is known for his sim racing hobby

Have Max Verstappen’s sim racing habits gone too far?

However, Verstappen’s hobby failed to impress at the Hungarian Grand Prix, after winning the 24 Hours of Spa which kept him awake until 3:00am.

During the race the next day, Verstappen delivered a tirade of foul-mouthed team radio messages to his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, which prompted criticism towards his hobby.

His anger culminated in an on-track collision with Lewis Hamilton, where he slipped down the order to finish the race in fifth.

As a result of his actions in Hungary, Verstappen was reportedly asked not to sim race during F1 weekends, with Red Bull placing a ‘ban’ on his hobby.

Max Verstappen was criticised for sim racing in Hungary

In a recent article for Motorsport.com, Verstappen’s hobby was explored by those who race alongside him, with one competitor revealing a hack the champion uses.

According to Luke Small, who also regularly takes part in iRacing, the name ‘Jos Verstappen’ flashed up on the screen as he entered a race.

Within the iRacing community, the name is known to belong to one of Max Verstappen’s accounts, with the Dutchman using the name of his father as a cheeky hack.

Verstappen keeps his real name for high-level races only so he can maintain a pristine rating, and uses his father’s name otherwise, with Small revealing that this is not ‘uncommon’ in iRacing.