Max Verstappen has revealed how a daring overtaking manoeuvre at Spa-Francorchamps in 2015 got him into trouble with Red Bull boss Helmut Marko.
Verstappen’s first year in F1 saw some eye-catching moments as the 17-year-old looked to impress the world. One particular moment at Blanchimont resulted in a successful and sensational overtaking maneuver that was too much even for Marko.
Max Verstappen’s iRacing sim training led to an overtaking maneuver in Spa
Verstappen was given permission to drive for Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso in 2015, where he drove alongside Carlos Sainz.
The Dutch driver impressed throughout the year, with the 17-year-old showing fearlessness in battle, laying the groundwork that helped him earn his promotion to Red Bull the following season.
That fearlessness was on full display at Spa-Francorchamps, when Verstappen caught Felipe Nasr’s Sauber in the Belgian Grand Prix, displacing the Brazilian with a daring overtaking manoeuvre on the outside of Blanchimont – Spa’s fearsomely fast left-hander, where a collision would have resulted in a serious accident.
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The now three-time F1 world champion had trained on iRacing with Atze Kerkhof, who is now part of Team Redline – Verstappen’s sim racing team under the racing umbrella of Verstappen.com – and practiced the move, albeit only in the virtual world.
“I got to know Atze during my F3 season. I drove for Van Amersfoort and you spend time in the simulator to prepare,” said Verstappen at the Off the beaten track Documentary.
“At the time, my engineer Rick said, ‘We have a really good simulator guy who comes to train. He’s done this for us with other drivers before.'”
Kerhof takes up the story and says: “In the beginning it was mainly about driving with me, training. We did a lot of individual training in iRacing, where we practiced overtaking on certain tracks. iRacing had the laser-scanned version of Spa Francorchamps.
“Normally (Blanchimont) is not a corner where you would think about overtaking. In a simulation it is a bit easier.”
Verstappen laughed: “It was more for fun, we tried it out in the simulator with the F1 cars and I looked at which angles you could overtake. We also collided in Blanchimont and touched each other!”
“I think the F1 cars we had in the game were a little slower in terms of top speed and had a little more downforce.”
Verstappen took the outside of Nasr and kept his foot down as the duo raced through Blanchimont at top speed. He managed to hold his position and then head down the inside line into the Bus Stop chicane.
Had the manoeuvre happened today, Verstappen probably would not have been allowed to keep his position as he crossed the white lines and hit the kerb, which only increased the instability as he kept his foot on the ground.
“So when I tried the manoeuvre in real life,” Verstappen continued, “I had more top speed and less camber, so the car moved a bit more in that moment.”
Jos Verstappen showed how nervous he was when he witnessed this fast-paced maneuver.
“I heard about this story, but that was later,” he said.
“When he was by my side, I knew he wouldn’t give up. But when it happened, I didn’t know that he had already practiced it on the simulator.”
But although the move ultimately paid off, Verstappen admitted that neither his father nor anyone else at Red Bull was particularly pleased with his bold risk-taking. For them, it was a step too far.
“It was fun. I enjoyed it a lot at the time,” said Verstappen.
“Helmut (Marko) came to me straight after the race and told me never to do that again.
“I thought, ‘I got past him, it’s OK.’ Now I understand why.
“I was still 17 and thought: ‘I’ll give it a try.'”
Nine years later, in a very different situation in life – having already won three world titles and well on his way to a fourth – Verstappen said it was unlikely that he would take risks like the Blanchimont move today.
“I probably wouldn’t do it now, no,” he said.
“It’s not worth the risk. I could have easily overtaken him maybe in the next corner or something, but at the time I thought, ‘I don’t care. I’m going to show everyone that it’s possible.'”
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