Max Verstappen refutes Helmut Marko's claims about the Red Bull driver not taking part in sim racing during F1 race weekends

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen refuted team advisor Helmut Marko's claims regarding his sim racing activities on race weekends. The three-time world champion was heavily criticized by pundits over his 3 a.m. sim racing during the Hungarian GP last weekend.

Incidentally, the Dutch driver was irked by his team's strategy and some stewards' calls during the race in Budapest and did not hesitate to air his frustration, getting into a heated exchange on the radio with his race engineer GP Lambiase.

In his column for Speedweek, Marko wrote that he and Verstappen had agreed on a solution to his late-night sim racing and said (via GPBlog):

"Max has a different sleeping rhythm and he had his seven hours of sleep. His late sim race at the Hungarian weekend only came about because a driver in his team had canceled. Nevertheless, we agreed that in the future he will not drive sims that late."

However, ahead of the Belgian GP, the 26-year-old stated he was aware of how to manage his schedule and life when asked about stories of a sim racing ban, speaking to ViaPlay:

"No. Loads of people, make up certain conspiracy theories or something. I don't know, too much time on the phone. I think I know very well what I can or cannot do, that’s it actually, very easy.”

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Max Verstappen gives statement on his sim racing after the Belgian GP pole

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that the sim race in the Virtual 24h of Spa in the wet last weekend helped him get the pole position for the main race in similar conditions.

Speaking with ViaPlay, the three-time world champion said (via PlanetF1)

“Last week I drove in the rain a lot in the simulator here at Spa. Being on the sim is not so bad after all, while most people are nagging about that. They can all f*** off! It was a good day.”

While analyzing his qualifying session for the Belgian GP, Verstappen added(via F1.com):

“Today was a positive day. We were really strong, have maximized the car, and have the best possible position for tomorrow. You always try and do the best lap possible; it was wet today and the conditions tomorrow will be better and I think it will all be about tire management." he added.

Verstappen finished almost six-tenths of a second ahead of Charles Leclerc in P3 in the wet conditions at the Spa Francorchamps on Saturday. For the third year running, the Dutch driver won't be able to start from P1 as he has a 10-place grid penalty for taking new power unit components.

Like the 2022 and 2023 editions of the Belgian GP where he started from P14 and P6, respectively, and still ended up winning both, Verstappen would be hoping for a successful outcome on Sunday.