Max Verstappen announces 'natural next step' away from F1

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen announces 'natural next step' away from F1

Max Verstappen is a big sim racing enthusiast

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 23 March 2026 19:51

Max Verstappen has made a major announcement about his exploits away from the F1 track.

As well as being a four-time world champion in F1, Verstappen also has many other racing hobbies, including owning his own GT Racing team.

Verstappen raced with the No.3 Mercedes Team Verstappen Racing AMG GT3 last weekend at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, winning the race on track but being disqualified hours later.

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The Dutchman is also a huge fan of sim racing, and his friend Chris Lulham who competes in sim racing has now graduated up into GT Racing with Verstappen Racing off the back of his performances with Team Redline.

Lulham will race alongside Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon this year in the pro class of the GT World Challenge Europe, after claiming Gold Cup success in the series last year.

Now, Verstappen has announced that Team Redline in sim racing has had a rebrand, from now on being called Verstappen Sim Racing, bringing it closer in line with the Verstappen Racing brand as the Dutchman expands his team ownership portfolio.

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Verstappen Sim Racing enter new era

"Sim Racing is a big passion of mine outside Formula 1, and Team Redline has been a big part of that," Verstappen said in a statement.

"It is where I spend a lot of my time off track, and part of what I am building with Verstappen Racing. This step to Verstappen Sim Racing feels very natural. We’re taking everything we’ve achieved and bringing it closer in line with the wider Verstappen Racing platform.

"I’ve always believed that sim racing can develop real talent, and we’re already seeing that with Chris Lulham. I’m really excited to keep building on the success of the team and see what the future holds."

Verstappen competes with the team in a number of big events on the sim racing calendar, and can regularly be seen on live streams with his friends and colleagues.

But more recently, Verstappen has been focused on his GT Racing, with the Dutchman having entered into May's 24 Hours of Nurburgring endurance race.

The NLS2 race at the weekend was completed in preparation for that May entry, and Verstappen performed well in the car alongside Juncadella and Gounon, taking a pole position-race victory double, but the disqualification has ultimately stripped that victory.

Instead, the No.99 Rowe Racing BMW duo of Dan Harper and Jordan Pepper inherited the race win.

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen