Verstappen calls Le Mans Virtual a “clown show” as glitch costs him win

Max Verstappen has vowed to never again compete in Le Mans Virtual - the sim-racing version of the famous 24-hour race - after server problems saw his team disconnected... while leading. Ouch.

The reigning F1 champ had been on course for victory for the #1 Team Redline entry along with teammates Luke Browning, Jeffrey Rietveld and Diogo Pinto, but they lost a lap and a half after being kicked out of the game, falling out of contention with a quarter of the race still to go.

The event had been red flagged twice early on - allegedly due to a security breach - with instability leading to further disconnections, including Verstappen’s.

His team eventually retired their car in frustration.

“They call it amazingly bad luck, well this is just incompetence,” fumed Max afterwards. “They [the organisers] can’t even control their own game. This is already the third time that this happens to me now that we get kicked off the game while doing this race. It’s also the last time I’m ever participating.

“Because what’s the point? You prepare for five months to try and win this championship, you’re leading the championship, you’re trying to win this race, which you prepare for two months. And they handle it like this.

A disconnect for @Max33Verstappen and @TeamRedlineSim from the lead of the race 😬#LeMansVirtual Powered by @TraxionGG pic.twitter.com/bCILhnI9l1

— Le Mans Virtual (@LeMansVirtual) January 15, 2023

“Honestly it’s a joke, you cannot call this an event. It’s a clown show. I think I have more chance if I go to Vegas and I’m just gonna go to the casino. I’ll have more chance to win.”

Finally, he concluded: “Well, I think I’m gonna uninstall the game. That’s nice. Frees up a bit of space on the PC anyway. And I hope everyone uninstalls the game.”

In the end it was the #2 Team Redline entry that took the chequered flag, with drivers including Aston Martin F1 reserve Felipe Drugovich and IndyCar racer Felix Rosenqvist.