Max Verstappen develops new 'addiction' outside of F1 as friend reveals all
Max Verstappen appears to have taken one of his hobbies to the extreme.
Max Verstappen is said to be “addicted” to Minecraft and has spent days playing the video game. The Dutchman is currently on the hunt for a fourth consecutive F1 world title but has seen his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings diminish in recent months, with McLaren star Lando Norris hot on his heels.
Verstappen came under fire in July after staying up until 3am the night before the Hungarian Grand Prix to compete in a sim racing event.
His race at the Hungaroring circuit ended in misery as he collided with Lewis Hamilton and finished fifth after hurling x-rated messages at his engineer over the team radio.
Related articles
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
Verstappen combines his F1 career by driving for Team Redline, a professional outfit competing at the pinnacle of endurance sim racing.
And Team Redline team member Luke Crane explained over his headset during a sim race: “Max might be the most addicted person to Minecraft in the world right now.
“I never thought I’d ever say that in my life. I built a little enchantment room and forest. Max has been enchanting books for the last three days. That’s about all he’s done and flying in the air.”
Team Redline have their own Twitch channel, which has over 200,000 followers, where fans can watch Verstappen competing in sim races.
And Crane, who is a commentator and content manager for the team, recently joked: “We are Team Redline - Max races for us. We are the team that allows him to express himself in F1. We allowed him to still do Imola, because we are that kind of team.
“We don’t want to ever stop our drivers from doing their hobbies. We’re very supportive, we’re never going to hold people back.”
Following Verstappen’s woes in Hungary, Red Bull chief Helmut Marko explained that the three-time world champion wouldn’t be involved in sim racing past midnight ahead of Grands Prix in the future.
He said: “We have agreed that in the future he will not drive well past 12am, even though he has a completely different rhythm of life. But still, you have to avoid things like this that are understandably attacked in public. It is a very strong recommendation.”
The 81-year-old had earlier stated: “If a race doesn't go the way you want it to and you finish in fifth place, for example, then you have to avoid this kind of thing. And we know that sim racing is his biggest hobby. It was also not his intention to drive a part in that race, until a team-mate had to give up.”
