Rosberg criticizes Verstappen for staying up late for a sim race
2016 F1 world champion Nico Rosberg criticised reigning champion Max Verstappen for staying up late for a sim race before last Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen is a keen sim racer who regularly competes in events. He revealed earlier that he would not miss an important sim race even during an F1 race weekend.
Over the course of this year's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend, the Dutchman took part in the virtual Nurburgring 24 Hours with his portable sim rig. Despite staying up late, he won the Imola race on the next day.
During last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen also fall asleep very late as he competed in a virtual sim race. 2016 F1 world champion Nico Rosberg suggested that this might not be the right way to approach the pinnacle of motorsport, especially now that McLaren have caught up with Red Bull in recent weeks.
“I was quite impressed, actually, because he [Norris] has learned how to become a more professional athlete. When he started F1, especially against Ricciardo, he wasn't really trying to be perfect as an athlete.
"Last night his bedtime was 11:05, not 11:00, 05. Wake up was 8:05, and breakfast was already set, like exactly what to eat. So he was hyper-professional, which was nice to know."
"At the same time, in contrast, you have Verstappen, who until 3:00 a.m. last night was sim-racing. That's a bit disappointing, isn't it? It just shows that he's too used to his ease of domination," Rosberg noted.
Red Bull's motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko responded to Rosberg's criticism, claiming that the Milton Keynes-based outfit has no plans to ban Verstappen from taking part in sim races during F1 weekends in future.
"That is nonsense. He was up even longer in Imola and there he won the race. Max has a different rhythm to me or other people, and the time he goes to bed is nothing unusual for him."
"He didn't even wake up at ten o'clock in Zandvoort when the helicopters flew over his motorhome. He has his sleep quota and he had it as usual."
Asked about his opinion regarding the scary incident between Verstappen and his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Rosberg said that the Dutchman might need to get used to fresh competition from rivals.
“Frustration is starting to boil over, which we as spectators quite enjoy watching honestly. It’s a change from the Red Bull dominance, isn’t it?”
“But I’m assuming here that maybe Max hasn’t seen it yet on a TV, otherwise, someone needs to tell him that was actually a corner, which is why Lewis was turning in…I mean, Lewis was taking the corner!”
