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F1 world champion Max Verstappen brilliantly overtook James Baldwin in the 24 hours of Le Mans virtual race on Saturday. The driver raced for long-time esports team Redline and led the race for a couple of hours before crashing out. Watch the clip below:
Verstappen missed out on pole position in the virtual version of the prestigious event by just 0.002s earlier. He, however, quickly took the lead in the race in the first couple of corners before ultimately crashing out.
The Dutchman impressed the sim racing world by showing off his tremendous world championship-winning braking abilities. He got on the brakes just a few meters ahead of James Baldwin, who represents Veloce Esports.
F1 drivers such as Max Verstappen are required to have tremendous control over their braking. Given the downforce figures on F1 cars, a huge amount of pressure is needed to press in the brakes. Moreover, brake pedals are hard because sporting regulations require all of the braking force to be generated by the driver alone, so there can be no power assistance.
Max Verstappen claims sim racing has helped his career
Max Verstappen joined a group of elite drivers by winning his first F1 world title in Abu Dhabi. Despite being the king of the track, the Dutchman claims virtual sim racing has helped him strengthen his real-life racing. In an interview with personal sponsor CarNext, the champion praised sim race drivers for their speed in the virtual world:
“It’s very interesting to see them drive because they have no real experience of a car but, somehow, when you look at how they’re braking, how they’re controlling, it is how it should be. It’s very interesting for me to then compare myself to them because they’re naturally quick on the sim, I’m naturally quick in real life. For me, that’s another motivation, because I know that I’m confident that when I want to jump in a real car, I’ll be quick.”
The driver often indulges in his hobby of racing in the virtual world and claims it helps him set up his real-life race cars. He said:
“It keeps me ready to go because I’m spending a lot of time also then on the setup. I’m not racing a Formula 1 car on the simulator, but it’s like GT cars, so it’s also a different technique of driving. I just keep testing myself, and especially these sim drivers... they’re so quick!”
Max Verstappen will return for Red Bull with car #1 instead of #33 in hopes of defending his championship.
