Max Verstappen insists he would rather do all the simulator work he needs and not rely on the efforts of a test driver like the practices of other teams.
The double Formula 1 Champion is known of his extensive use of the simulator be it for testing or virtual racing, with a regular appearance on iRacing, and sim racing events on other platforms; including the Virtual Le Mans, as he believes this practice will keep him sharp.
According to the Dutchman, while speaking to Speedweek, the simulator Red Bull have is one of the best in the industry and he makes the best use of it.
“I think our simulator is one of the best in the industry,” he said. “We feed in data from the car that we had collected on the track. Of course, the congruence between simulation and reality is not perfect.”
And while many drivers dread getting into the simulator between races to do some testing, and instead rather rely on test drivers; Verstappen is the exact opposite and prefers to do all that work himself regardless of the long hours he spend on the sim rig.
Everyone has their own driving style
“The days are very long, but I am convinced that this work is worth it,” he insisted. “I also don’t want a test driver to take care of the simulator work, as is done at other racing teams. I want to do it myself, because everyone has their own unique driving style.
“That helps me keep sharp,” he pointed out. “You can’t do much more than that at the moment if you have to stay at home. And I get a lot of enjoyment out of sim racing anyway.”
Now for 2023, Red Bull have a high caliber test and third driver who would be doing their simulator work, and that is Daniel Ricciardo, which means the team will be getting some high quality simulation work, but chances are Verstappen would still be doing the bulk of his testing work himself.
Not long now, Max ? pic.twitter.com/142cL52z9W
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) January 25, 2023