{"id":147153,"date":"2025-09-19T10:00:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T10:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/147153\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T10:00:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T10:00:05","slug":"max-verstappen-on-the-nurburgring-sim-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/147153\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen on the Nurburgring, sim racing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u25ba We spoke to Verstappen ahead of the Silverstone 2025 GP
\u25ba We chat F1, endurance racing and more
\u25ba Is he the most misunderstood driver on the grid?<\/p>\n

In September 2025, Max Verstappen won the Monza Grand Prix against two faster McLaren cars \u2013 and in the same month he also took his first step to competing in the Nurburgring 24 endurance race. Ahead of all that, we spoke to him on the Silverstone GP weekend. Keep reading for the full interview.<\/p>\n

We speak to Verstappen at the British GP<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen cuts a relaxed, if not exhausted, figure on the eve of British GP weekend. Red Bull cap on, chatting to me in a glassy, open space high in the team\u2019s Energy Station hospitality unit, the Dutchman is mentally braced for a tough weekend \u2013 and questions from yet another British journalist.<\/p>\n

Last year he was batting away questions about the departure of Adrian Newey or his revolving door of team-mates. Today we\u2019re asking him about rumours of a sensational move to Mercedes in 2026. Days later, team principal Christian Horner will be sacked.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For most drivers, this would be a distraction. For Verstappen, it\u2019s background noise. Come Saturday, he puts his RB21 on pole \u2013 ahead of crowd favourites Norris, Hamilton and Russell. Max under pressure, Max performing. It\u2019s the kind of display that demands respect.<\/p>\n

For years, Verstappen has been easy to dislike \u2013 too fast, too brash, too blunt and too entitled. But it\u2019s hard to see that Verstappen \u2013 the Max of questionable on-track moves and radio tirades \u2013 here in this room. What if he\u2019s changed? Or what if we got him wrong all along?<\/p>\n

Wait. Is Max one of the good guys?<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s just instinct,\u2019 Verstappen tells me, recalling his move on Oscar Piastri at Imola. \u2018You see the moment evolve and it\u2019s just like a split second \u2013 okay, I\u2019m doing it.\u2019 For Verstappen, instinct and decision-making are one and the same. \u2018It\u2019s very hard to explain,\u2019 he shrugs. \u201cExperience comes into play\u2026 You trust yourself to make the right call \u2013 if it\u2019s possible or not.\u201d For Max, it usually is.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Since his debut win at Barcelona in 2016, Verstappen\u2019s conduct on and off track hasn\u2019t always been ideal, but the seasons since have swept away questions about his talent: from a charge through the field at Spa 2022 to a wet-weather masterclass at Brazil 2024, his career glitters with legendary drives. No wonder Toto Wolff wants him.<\/p>\n

\u2018The pressure was on, I had to perform, I had to try and not lose points,\u2019 he says, recalling Interlagos 2024. Starting P17, compared to championship rival Norris starting first, Verstappen had it all to do. \u2018I knew that it was going to be a tough race, but we got locked in,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

Of his recent drive on the N\u00fcrburgring, he says, now getting more animated: \u2018It was really nice, to get out there finally in real life. I\u2019ve done thousands of laps on the simulator around there. It was great to get out there with the GT3 car and have some fun.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But what makes a four-time world champion log laps on a sim rig? \u201cIt\u2019s competition,\u201d he shrugs. \u2018You\u2019re racing others, constantly trying to improve. You work on set-up, look at data, go through strategy. You\u2019re defending, overtaking, doing pitstops.\u2019<\/p>\n

These feel like the words of a motorsport fan \u2013 not the words of a four-time world champion. But Max is both.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s interested in competing in other motorsports, but they\u2019ll have to wait until after F1. \u2018I would like to do it, but it\u2019s a little bit too difficult to combine with F1. Let\u2019s see in the future if it\u2019s possible.\u2019<\/p>\n

Back to 2025, though, and Max is having a tough time. The RB21 is the first Red Bull not designed by Adrian Newey in years \u2013 and it shows. <\/p>\n

What if we got Max all wrong?<\/p>\n

Silverstone proves to be one of the toughest races of the year, a week after he was taken out by teenage prodigy Kimi Antonelli in Austria. And yet, it\u2019s hard to see the Max of questionable on-track moves and radio tirades here in this room. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So what does Max think? \u2018Every driver has had a moment where they\u2019ve locked up or misjudged the situation,\u201d Max says. \u201cLife goes on \u2013 and I try not to make too much of a scene out of it. We get on very well. He\u2019s a great kid. But also, mistakes happen.\u2019<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard not to see a bit of Max in Antonelli \u2013 a teen hailed as the future, dropped into F1 with all the weight of expectation. Maybe Max is mellowing. Or maybe he\u2019s the only one who truly understands Antonelli\u2019s world.<\/p>\n

Four titles later, Max is in a different space. \u2018I\u2019ve got nothing to prove,\u2019 he shrugs. \u2018I just want to keep winning. Actually, I want to win more \u2013 but there\u2019s not another goal I\u2019m chasing. I just want to do the same thing.\u2019<\/p>\n

With Red Bull losing talent and performance, speculation over his next move will only intensify. Did Newey\u2019s departure make him less likely to stay? Does Horner\u2019s departure make him less likely to go?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Before we wrap, I ask about Tag Heuer \u2013 the Red Bull partner that facilitated this chat. It\u2019s now the official timekeeper of Formula 1.<\/p>\n

\u2018What I really enjoyed was going to Switzerland and seeing how they make the watches,\u2019 says Max, now in a slightly more media-trained tone. While he talks about the personalised Monaco he\u2019s wearing, I can\u2019t help but think of something else he said earlier:<\/p>\n

\u2018I just enjoy the driving part, it\u2019s what I grew up wanting to do. I know that with F1 growing, some other bits come with it, so you must accept that. But my joy still comes from sitting in the car, and just getting the most out of it.\u2019<\/p>\n

In 2025, F1 comes with more scrutiny, more questions and more stress than ever before. But strip away the four titles, the Drive to Survive drama and the dysfunctional team, and Max is one of the greatest to ever sit behind a wheel. What\u2019s not to like about that?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u25ba We spoke to Verstappen ahead of the Silverstone 2025 GP\u25ba We chat F1, endurance racing and more\u25ba…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1687,372,6537,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-147153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-f1","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}