Max Verstappen Certain That Sim Racing Will Become Building Blocks For Future Racers

Four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen is certain that many racing drivers will use sim racing as development tools to hone their skills.

Verstappen is part of Team Redline, a sim racing esports team that has dabbled in various games such as iRacing, Rennsport, rFactor 2, and many others.

Verstappen has taken part in various sim racing events such as 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual in 2020, 2022, and 2023, as well as some rounds in the 2022-23 Le Mans Virtual Series.

Some of his sim races were held in the middle of the actual Formula 1 season. For example, Verstappen participated in the GT3 class of the 2024 iRacing 24 Hours of Nürburgring while focusing on the 2024 Imola Grand Prix. The two races are held in the same week, and Verstappen won both of them.

Young prospects already using sim racing as development tool

During a Q&A livestream with Team Redline, Max Verstappen is certain that sim racing will become a part of racing drivers’ development programs.

“Yeah, I would hope so. I mean, we try to apply it (knowledge gained from sim racing), of course. I think it’s very useful,” said Verstappen.

He iterated that young racers who are starting out with go-kart racing have already used sim racing to gain a good grasp of other racing disciplines such as GT, touring, rallying, and open-wheel.

“Because I remember when I drove for the first time in a formula car, you know, I didn’t really do that much on a sim for it. So it was all very new,” he reminisces.

“But I do think you can learn a lot more already if you prep from a young age on the simulator. And I mean, over the last 10 years, it has gotten a lot better.”

Sim racing changed the paradigm of car racing

The increased popularity and technological advancement of sim racing, both the games and its equipment, have actually made car racing more accessible than ever.

Max Verstappen agreed that back then, simulators weren’t as accessible as they are today. The release of video games like Assetto Corsa and the invention of devices like direct-drive wheels elevate the experience of sim racing. Playing racing games at home with a wheel has never been more realistic.

“I mean, it was mainly only the people that, you know, drove on the simulators as a job that were doing it. But now a lot of real drivers were using it,” Verstappen iterated.

The last 5 champions of Formula 1 have been using sim racing as part of their development program. Young names like Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and many others are known for their involvement in the sim racing and gaming scene.

As if those two are not enough proof, the SP9 Pro class of 2025 NLS has at least three people on the podium that are sim racers: Max Verstappen and Chris Lullham on their NLS debut and the Nissan GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough.

This result made Germany’s motor racing governing body consider sim racing experience as one of the requirements to qualify for a Nordschleife racing license (DPM).

So yes, sim racing as development tool has been proven effective to elevate a racing driver’s skills. It won’t take long for a new generation of racers who grew up inside sim racing games to take over the current crop of racing drivers.