Max Verstappen makes 'private time' clear with record set straight on ...

After his late night sim racing became a topic of intense debate during the Hungarian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has set the record straight: He has not been banned from sim racing.

Speaking to media ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, Verstappen has flatly denied that he has been banned from sim racing — and he also notes that his free time should not play a factor in his racing performance.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Verstappen’s love of sim racing is no secret, and during several occasions in F1 2024, it has been public knowledge that he has taken part in 24-hour sim races during grand prix weekends.

However, that hobby has caused stir during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, and was pegged as a possible explanation for the reason that Verstappen both failed to win the race and was particularly snappy on the radio.

Speaking to assembled media including PlanetF1.com before the Belgian Grand Prix, Verstappen denied that his late-night sim racing was the issue in Hungary.

“I raced until 3am,” he said. “It’s not something new, and for me, it’s something very important in my life.

“Now, there are no other sim races coming up anyway, so no one needs to worry about that.”

He also addressed concerns that it was the sim racing that resulted in a challenging race — but Verstappen flatly denied any suggestion that that could be the case.

“When you don’t win the race, you will always blame it on: ‘Ah, you were staying up until 3am, or I was one kilo overweight’,” he said.

“There are always things to make up that you can argue about when you don’t win a race.

“But for example, in Imola, I [did] win the race — both of them.

“For me, this is not something new. I’ve been doing this since 2015. This is not something that is any different in my preparation.

“I’ve won three World Championships, I think I know pretty well what I can and what I cannot do, and I’m always very hard on myself [about] what is allowed and what isn’t allowed.”

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Earlier this week, rumors circulated that Verstappen had been explicitly banned from sim racing during grand prix weekends. However, he denied that Helmut Marko had issued any bans.

“We talked about it,” Verstappen said of Marko. “I said, anyway, you don’t need to worry. Like I said, there’s no other racing coming up.

“It’s not that I have a ban or whatever.”

Further, Verstappen added, “I also don’t need to tell them what they do in their private time during the weekends, and that’s the same thing.”

They’re strong words from the three-time champion.

Heading into Belgium, Verstappen will have an uphill battle to climb on race day as reports have emerged that the Red Bull driver may have to take a new power unit. Doing so would give him a 10-place grid penalty ahead of what is expected to be a wet weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.

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