Max Verstappen encounters further woes in the world of sim racing

Max Verstappen has not had the greatest of luck in sim racing recently, now suffering an early end to his virtual 12 Hours of Sebring.

The Dutchman was virtually behind the wheel of the Team Redline car for the endurance event, and had built up a lead out front.

Sadly though all of that went out of the window when a collision was detected between Verstappen and another car in the GTB class, though footage suggested that the cars had not actually made contact.

But, the fact was that Verstappen’s #101 Ferrari 488 GT3, which he was sharing with 2021 IndyCar champ Alex Palou, was damaged, forcing him to pit.

And with repairs set to take around six minutes, Team Redline decided that it was game over for them.

This then represents another case of technology being rather harsh to Verstappen, as back in January he and his Team Redline team-mates would disconnect from the Virtual Le Mans while in the lead.

“They call it amazingly bad luck…well this is just incompetence,” Verstappen said on his live stream at the time.

“They can’t even control their own game. This the third time already that has happened to me now, being kicked off the game while doing this race.

“This is also the last time ever because what’s the point? You prepare for five months to try and win this Championship, you are leading the Championship, you try to win this race which you have prepared for for two months and they handle it like this.

“Honestly, it is a joke. You cannot even call it an event. It’s a clown show.”

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At least Verstappen is having a lot more success in the real racing world, as he heads into Round 3 of the F1 2023 season, the Australian Grand Prix, at the top of the Drivers’ Championship as he chases a third World title in succession.

Verstappen has not exactly been Formula 1’s happiest bunny either though, having spoken after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix of his frustrations about Red Bull’s reliability issues.

A driveshaft failure in qualifying had forced him to start from P15, with P2 the extent of his recovery as he crossed the line five second behind team-mate Sergio Perez.

Verstappen did though snatch the fastest lap bonus point from Perez, meaning he kept his Championship lead heading into the Australian GP.