Online racing does not blow Verstappen's mind: 'Must train for it'

We still see the real races on the racetracks, but online there is also more and more racing. For example, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen can be found a lot online and simracers like Max Benecke suddenly come across top drivers in their session.

Online racing

The German simracer Benecke is 26 years old and has grown up in sim racing. The German was a finalist in the World Fastest Gamer competition and drives online races for Team Redline. That team also often brings Norris and Verstappen to the online races, so Benecke has been in contact with the Formula 1 drivers several times already.

As a little boy Benecke was already a fan of Formula 1 and on Sunday he watched every race. He still dreams of a place in F1, but at 26 he realises that it is almost impossible that this will happen again. On Sunday he always makes time to watch the races, where he comes across familiar names.

Verstappen must train

With Norris and Verstappen, Benecke has already met two drivers on the grid in online racing and often works with them. ''Verstappen is just as enthusiastic about racing as we are'', says Benecke about the Dutchman at ntz.de.

Because of the corona virus those drivers had even more time left than normal and so Benecke saw them more and more often participate in the races where he also participated. ''They know where to find the accelerator, but they still have to train for it'', says Benecke, who himself spends 20 to 30 hours a week in his simulator.