Verstappen ambitious with his own racing team: "I'm very busy with it"

Max Verstappen is currently making quite a name for himself in Formula 1. The reigning world champion is well on his way to his third consecutive world title in 2023, but behind the scenes, the Red Bull Racing driver is also heavily involved with his own set-up team Verstappen.com Racing. The Dutchman has ambitious plans for this project as well. The 25-year-old is already working on it, but he hopes to see more results within one or two years.

A few months ago, Verstappen founded his own team in collaboration with Red Bull, consisting of racing teams in the virtual and real world. Verstappen.com Racing currently consists of three different parts. Thierry Vermeulen, the son of Verstappen's manager, represents Verstappen.com Racing in the DTM and his father Jos does the same in his rally races. There is also the sim racing team Redline.

Verstappen is very involved in this project and he is bursting with ideas, but at the moment his F1 career is the priority. "This is just the beginning of everything," Verstappen told De Telegraaf in Canada. "Of course, my main focus at the moment is Formula 1, but I want to do other things eventually. We are already working on the next steps and I expect more to come out of that within one or two years. Eventually, I hope to build a nice, own team that can compete in different classes in motorsport," Verstappen said.

Creating something in the long-distance racing or GT world

It is common knowledge that Verstappen is a big fan of sim racing. Not only at home, but also in his motorhome, he can often be found in the simulator. "I am very busy with it and have many ideas and plans. Not even for myself to race in, but for others," Verstappen says. The two-time world champion thinks young sim racers can also be successful on the asphalt. "Maybe not so much in Formula 1, but I try to create something in, for example, long-distance racing or the GT world. That's a passion for me, to make that happen."

Atze Kerkhof, the owner and founder of sim racing team Redline, has words of praise for Verstappen. "Sim racing and Team Redline in particular is Max's baby," he says. "He has a leading role within the team and is considered an inspiration. When he has to, Max (Verstappen, ed.) drives everyone off. He works harder than anyone else. I think we like each other because of that typical Verstappen way of working: straightforward and always looking for the maximum. I think that is precisely why the team is so successful. Max has a tremendous competitive spirit. For him, it's a way to keep enjoying racing. He wants to win and gets mad if he doesn't. He needs that, it keeps the fire burning," Kerkhof said.

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