Double World Champion Max Verstappen has confirmed that he will not be installing a simulator rig into his private plane, with Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko having “misunderstood” comments made by the Dutchman.
Following the Le Mans 24 Hours Virtual, Marko incredibly revealed to German media that Verstappen was going to be fitting a sim rig into his jet, so that he could always be practicing.
It appears, though, that Marko didn’t quite understand what Verstappen was telling him, with the 25-year-old having announced that a new sim isn’t going into his plane, but into his motorhome.
“I said I will install one (a simulator rig) there because I just can keep on driving when I’m back in the evening because I like it. It’s my hobby in a way. It just keeps you sharp as well,” Verstappen said, per Reuters.
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“I think he (Marko) misunderstood and he said plane. So no, I’m not installing one in my plane. I think that would be a bit absurd.”
Many wondered if Verstappen would put a hold on sim racing following the Le Mans 24 Hours Virtual, after the Dutchman’s team shockingly retired from the race after leading it for seven hours.
His team decided to quit after they were disconnected from the server’s multiple times, dropping the team from first, to P17 and over a lap down on the new leader.
Verstappen was absolutely furious with the way the event was managed, with the vast majority of the teams taking part having experienced identical issues.
The Dutch driver went on a huge rant after quitting, with the Red Bull star having labelled the event a “clown show”.
“You prepare for five months to try and win this championship, you’re leading the championship, you’re trying to win this race which you prepared for two months – and they handle it like this!” Verstappen said after retiring.
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Later in his rant, the reigning World Champion revealed that he’d never be competing in the biggest sim racing event ever again, unless they change the platform it’s run on.
The event has always been run on rFactor 2, a sim platform that is owned by Motorsport Games.
Given that Motorsport Games hold the rights to the race, it’s unlikely that it’ll be appearing on another platform, for example, iRacing, anytime soon.