Double World Champion Max Verstappen has called for all sim-racers to “uninstall” rFactor 2, after the organisers of last weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours Virtual failed to “even control their own game”.
Verstappen was incredibly critical of the biggest sim-racing event in the world after dramatically quitting the race last weekend, after his team suffered from a plethora of technical issues.
The race itself was ridiculed by server issues, with many teams having disconnected from the race several times.
One of those teams was Verstappen’s, with his side having dropped from the lead to P17 and a lap and a half behind, following a connection issue.
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Verstappen sensationally decided to retire from the race following one of the technical issues, after having led the race for seven hours.
The Red Bull driver hit out at the organisers and the game after he retired, where he insisted that it was the “last time” he’s ever going to take part in the “clown show”.
“They can’t even control their own game,” Verstappen told his Twitch stream.
“This is already the third time this has happened to me, getting kicked off the game while doing this race. It’s also the last time I’m ever participating, because what’s the point?
“You prepare for five months to try to win this championship, you’re leading the championship, you’re trying to win this race that you’ve been preparing for for two months, and they handle it like this.
“There have been two red flags, they cancelled the rain, because probably that’s already a big influence, and people are still getting disconnected, and at one point we were also hit by it, and they’re just not dealing with it, because they need even more people to disconnect.
“Honestly, it’s a joke. You cannot call this an event. [It’s a] clown show.”
Prior to the race, Verstappen had told the Washington Post that winning the event was “very important” to himself and his team, perhaps stoking his anger with how the race was handled.
“It’s a disgrace for all the effort we have put in as a team,” he added.
“I really hope the organisers consider where they put this race going forward because on this platform it’s not going to work.
“It’s game over. I think I have more chance if I go to Vegas and go to the casino, I have more chance to win. I think I’m going to uninstall the game. That’s nice… frees up a bit of space on the PC anyway. And I really hope everyone uninstalls the game.”
Verstappen’s outburst didn’t end there, as the 25-year-old went on to make a full statement regarding what happened and how the handling of the event was a “disgrace to the sim-racing community”.
“I’m going to write this once, it might get deleted but who cares,” Verstappen posted on Discord.
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“After five months of prep to fight for a title, around two months of prep for Le Mans, this is what we get.
“This was a disgrace to the sim racing community and to all big brands and drivers involved. Big stutters all race, red flags due to [cyber] attacks you say, but then again people disconnecting some get their laps back, some don’t because of the stupid four car rule.
“How can you even rely on rules when you can’t even control your own s**t server? This is not the first time we do this. I have literally been disconnected three out of four times. You might think after the first or second time, you learn but this is just a disaster.”