Credits: IMAGO HochZwei

EA Sports will release the 2024 version of its F1 virtual racing game on May 28. However, the hype for the release has already caught up with Max Verstappen diving into the promotional campaign. The Dutchman posted an Instagram story, expressing his thoughts on being on the cover of the latest edition. Despite being the reigning champion, he was surprised to see himself as the face of F1 for the $34.8 billion worth EA Sports.

The 26-year-old said, “I could never imagine to be on the cover myself when I grew up. When you use real footage as well, you can see the real emotion of a person.”

Remembering the snapshot from his iconic win in Barcelona, Verstappen continued, “I remember from Barcelona, it was a really good weekend, like, a strong weekend. You cross the line, you win the race, of course, you’re very happy. It’s also one of my favorite tracks on the calendar.”

Max Verstappen was just four years old when he started karting. Ever since then, the Dutchman has lived and breathed motor racing. Despite that, he never expected to make it as big as he has in F1. The by-product of that success is EA Sports honoring him by putting him on the cover for F1 24.

Given the way he has dominated F1 in the last two years, it is only appropriate that he gets to be the face of the sport. Sure, he has the best car on the grid but it is highly unlikely that any other driver would have been able to extract as much performance from it as Max Verstappen does.

Another factor that makes him the most appropriate driver to represent the game is his love for sim racing. Not only is Verstappen an avid sim racer himself, but he also has a team that professionally competes in e-racing competitions.

The other facet of Max Verstappen’s racing personality

One of the reasons why Max Verstappen is excellent on the track is his obsession with racing off it. The three-time champion has an elaborate simulator racing rig at home which he regularly makes use of. Verstappen features on Twitch, the streaming platform, to live stream not just his own races but also of his team.

Team Redline, a professional sim racing team, was founded 20 years ago. However, it started racing under the Verstappen.com livery in 2023 when the Dutchman’s racing banner took over. Apart from Formula 1, the team races in almost every sim racing discipline, including GT championships.

Redline made a big stride in December 2021 when they announced their participation in GT3 racing. Their Middlesbrough-based lineup included Alex Malykhin and James Dorlin, a GT4 race winner and 2020 Porsche Sprint Challenge GB champion.