05 February 2023 , 12:00
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Max Verstappen might love his simulator racing - but not so much that he'd get one installed on his own luxury private jet.
That's despite the claims of Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, who recently revealed that the Dutchman had sensationally decided to have his Falcon-900EX model adapted so he could practice whilst flying abroad. The Austrian, also in charge of the team's driver development programme, even implied such dedication had helped the two-time world champion rise to prominence.
"The opposite is the case," he said, when asked if Verstappen's simulator exploits were a distraction. "He even had his private plane converted so that he can fly a simulator in the air in the future. But that's a good thing, too, because Max needs this distraction. In any case, it didn't do him any harm when it came to his two titles."
Unfortunately for Marko, it seems he may have misunderstood the actual reality. In fact, his claims were described as "absurd" by the 25-year-old, who finished 146 points clear at the top of the 2022 driver standings with a record 15 Grand Prix wins.
“I think he misunderstood and he said plane,” Verstappen told reporters, at Red Bull’s RB19 launch in New York City on Friday. “So no, I’m not installing one in my plane. I think that would be a bit absurd."
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Clarifying what he actually said, Verstappen added: “I told him I want to install a simulator there [in my motorhome] so I can keep driving at night. It’s my hobby and it also keeps me sharp.”
Verstappen has corrected Helmut Marko (Getty Images)Verstappen takes his simulator competition very seriously, and last month entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual race. And he proved that his fiery temper and desire to win isn't confined to F1 alone.
He was left raging when he and fellow Team Redline members were forced to withdraw because of their connection issues. Ultimately, they went on to win the race with their number two entry, but only after the star ranted at organisers.
Branding the event a "clown show" and vowing never to participate again, he said: "They call it amazingly bad luck…well this is just incompetence. They can't even control their own game. This is already the third time this has happened to me now, getting kicked off the game while doing this race."