Red Bull not worried about Verstappen’s time in simulator
Fifth at the finish of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Dutchman seemed annoyed all weekend, perhaps linked to a lack of sleep which increased his frustration tenfold. However, Red Bull was quick to deny this possibility.
The Dutch driver experienced a disappointing Grand Prix with only 10 points scored despite numerous upgrades on his RB20. He also repeatedly complained about his car’s behavior regarding the brakes, explaining that the car was not turning well and about his car’s performance, unable to keep up with the two McLarens. Already on Saturday, at the end of the qualifying session, he raised his voice by asking his team to wake up so as not to be left behind by the Woking team.
A frustrated Verstappen who tried to vent his anger behind the wheel, but in a virtual game. Indeed, on the night from Saturday to Sunday, he drove on the iRacing racing simulation game for the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Undoubtedly carried away by adrenaline and his usual competitive spirit, the Dutch triple world champion stayed awake until 3:30 in the morning before letting one of his teammates take over, namely the Portuguese Diego Pinto.
No translation available.
« He stayed awake even longer in Imola, I don’t know how many hours of sleep he had, and he won the race (the virtual 24 hours of Nürburgring). Max has a different pace from mine or the others, and the time he went to bed is nothing extraordinary for him. He has his sleep quota. He got it as usual. So it’s nonsense to say he woke up in a bad mood.
The director of the Austrian team, Christian Horner, also wanted to clarify the situation, explaining that the Dutchman works a lot in the simulator in addition to these virtual races.
» I think people jump to conclusions too quickly, but Max knows what he needs in terms of workload and we trust his judgment. He knows what it takes to drive an F1 car in Grand Prix, to win Grand Prix races, and to become a world champion. And we always work as a team. As for discussions on how to improve, they will never be held through the media.
For Red Bull, the frustration of its driver is not due to his time spent in his simulator to participate in virtual endurance races but probably to the performance of his car, which no longer allows him to chain victories and to be as serene as at the beginning of the season. With Pérez’s underperformance, Red Bull’s situation is not exactly idyllic and the team will have to work and improve to prevent McLaren from overtaking them in the constructors’ standings at the end of the season.
