Norris Won't Do Sim Racing Race Weekend Like Verstappen On And He Explains Why

Tuesday, 21 May 2024 at 10:14

McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris explained why he's not planning to race in the virtual world alongside his friend Max Verstappen anytime soon.

The last weekend at Imola Circuit was extraordinary for Max Verstappen. The triple World Champion put in the performance he named the best of this season so far to snatch the victory less than one second ahead of Lando Norris in McLaren.

However, that wasn't the only thing the 26-year-old did during that weekend. Between qualifying and the race, he also took part in the virtual 24-hour race around Nurburgring.

So Verstappen first put his Red Bull on pole during qualifying, despite the fact that the odds seemed to be stacked against him this time.

Then, he joined the race for 24 hours around the Nurburgring before he went to sleep. In the morning, the Dutchman did a couple more stints in the sim race before heading to the track and winning the F1 race.

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Oh, and he actually won the virtual 24 hours around Nurburgring in the end, too. Speaking to the media after the race, Norris was asked whether he could imagine doing something similar.

The Papaya driver reminded us that he and Verstappen had already won some sim races together in the past, but he has now moved on.

"We won races together already. I've done my bit! It's obviously something I grew up doing so much of. I think I paid the price of doing so much of it and not many other things when I grew up. My life was literally racing, sim racing, and then school when I had to go. And I didn't do anything else. I never went out."

"I didn't do any of this when I was a kid. I never went out with my friends and that kind of stuff. I was a bit of a loner. Now I'm just kind of making up for my lost time, that I get to go outside and I'm kind of doing other things and enjoying that more than the sim stuff."

The 24-year-old wouldn't do sim racing, but he also stayed up long into the night during the race weekend as he watched the boxing match, golf, and Indianapolis. He added:

"And maybe if I did less sim stuff and more other things, maybe I would still be doing my sim racing. I think just kind of how I grew up and stuff has led me away from it a little bit more than maybe what Max has done, and maybe Max did a bit the opposite. I still love it."

"I still enjoy it. I still play online and do stuff with my mates online. I still enjoy it, but not something I thought of doing on a Saturday night."