Max Verstappen clocked off at 4am in the small hours of Saturday morning, less than a day before the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after a gaming session ran late into the night. The Red Bull star stayed up in preparation for an evening race in Jeddah.
One of Verstappen’s principal pass times away from the F1 circuit is online gaming. The Dutchman gets plenty of high-octane action from competing against the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in real life, but seemingly comes away hungry for more, which he gets from online simulation game iRacing.
That was exactly what Verstappen was doing after clinching pole position in qualifying on Friday, with his gaming session running until 4am (local time).
In a snippet from one of his gaming partner’s livestreams, which has circulated on social media, Verstappen is heard saying: “Alright boys, I’m also going to go to bed.”
One friend responded with “Good luck tomorrow” before another chimed in and said: “It’s 4am for you, mate!” Laughing, Verstappen replied: “Yeah! I’ll speak to you guys tomorrow. Sleep well.”
Although it seems likely many of Verstappen’s competitors were in bed considerably earlier than the reigning three-time world champion on Friday night, F1 stars will not be required to dial in until 8pm (local time) on Saturday evening.
“Today I felt very comfortable in the car. Throughout qualifying, it was pretty crazy how fast you go around here, In my first lap in Q3, I felt pretty happy with the lap.
“It felt almost a bit like the failed 2021 lap, except I made the last corner. It was very good. I had a lot of fun and the car behaved very well.”
