Max Verstappen says his involvement in Group Redline got here from a priority he recognized throughout his personal racing: real-world karting has change into so costly that expertise is being priced out, so sim racing generally is a credible pathway into paid careers.
Verstappen has been a long-time member of the Group Redline sim outfit since becoming a member of in 2015, and the crew itself dates again to the early 2000s as one of many best-known names in top-level sim competitors.
However in an interview on the As much as Pace podcast recorded throughout Bahrain testing, Verstappen defined why the challenge is so vital to him.
Within the episode’s huge span of subjects, from the 2026 vehicles to his household influences and his father nonetheless competing at 53, the Dutchman repeatedly returned to the identical theme of extracting efficiency from coaching.
He described carrying that mindset from the simulator into race weekends and again once more, including how he pushes for marginal beneficial properties even within the closing hours earlier than a race. That logic then flowed into Group Redline’s goal: if karting is the primary rung and the ladder is being pulled up, the simulator turns into an equal and parallel route that may educate course of earlier than a driver ever has to take a seat in an actual automotive.
Due to this fact, Group Redline turns into a bridge to the racing profession that many dream of. Not essentially Method 1, however paid roles in classes comparable to GT and endurance racing, the place factory-supported seats at the moment are lifelike.
“It’s additionally as a result of I believe go-karting these days is getting so costly. Even in comparison with once I was driving. There’s no denying that even in go-karting these days is lots of people with some huge cash. And I might do the identical if I had a son or a daughter that was racing. You need to have the very best materials.
#31 Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3: Max Verstappen, Chris Lulham
Photograph by: VLN
“However the issue is when you could have the cash, the costs go up and to get the very best materials… So I really feel like folks that don’t have the cash or the chances typically, they’re being not noted or they simply don’t get the suitable alternatives, individuals surrender,” he mentioned.
“Individuals swap to sim racing and I see a number of children and drivers, they attempt to, via the sim racing world, make a profession. All of them dream of racing in actual life. And I had that related story with my driver [Chris Lulham] that’s now in GT3. He did go-karting. He did very effectively. However then principally that is the place the highway stops.
“I’m simply making an attempt to create this chance the place – getting all the best way to Method 1 is hard. It doesn’t matter even if you’re the very best go-kart driver on the market, however I need to have the ability to give them a profession. I need to have the option that they will change into a manufacturing facility driver in no matter class in endurance. How lovely is endurance racing these days with so many producers and giving individuals nice careers and platforms.
“And for me it is precisely that. I need to make it possible via sim racing you could come and be a part of us. Study, I might say, the right way to change into a skilled driver by way of how you use from residence or wherever you reside earlier than you even go into the true world.”
Whether or not that pipeline turns into a repeatable mannequin continues to be to be seen, however Verstappen has made it clear that his personal priorities more and more revolve round constructing entries for others into motorsport slightly than simply including extra data to his personal profession.
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