Max Verstappen: Sim Racing is an alternative to (expensive) karting

«It's about creating a stepping stone from sim racing to GT3, so that you don't have to only go through karting to get into motorsports, because that costs a lot of money at the moment.» said Max to the colleagues of Motorsport.com The sense of the expression used by Max Verstappen does not lend itself to biased interpretations: to date, karting is too expensive a sport, SIM is better – at least for those who want to create their own path towards 'adult' and professional motorsport. For some years now there seems to be a consolidated tendency on the part of F1 drivers – all of whom have arrived where they are starting from karting – to criticize the high costs, emphasizing how impractical it is for those who set career goals to access the highest level of this sport, which according to some is the only one capable of providing access to minor Formulas and consequently to the junior formula racing that leads to F1. Vettel, Hamilton, now Max Verstappen: there seems to be a contradiction between the level that these characters represent and statements like that, but if you think about it, that's not the case. It is the opinion of many that karting has always been an inaccessible sport and for a few, however in the past the tendency of the most popular and high-level drivers was to promote karting as soon as they had the opportunity, if we think of Ayrton Senna (perhaps the first true testimonial of karting to the mainstream), Michael Schumacher or Lewis Hamilton himself at the beginning of his F1 career, who has always presented an epic narration of his karting races, made up of "many sacrifices on his dad's part" at the start of his career. Today, however, many distance themselves from karting, almost as if there were embarrassment to recognize themselves in what has become the paddock of the races that count: the criticisms are generically about the costs, but if we could go a little deeper, the criticisms are about how this sport is managed, despite being the first step in a supply chain of which they represent the pinnacle. The SIM is therefore welcome, which it is true that it is not really within anyone's reach (we are talking about professional gear), but which constitutes an alternative for all those who, doing the math, simply cannot afford today's kart : whether they are aspiring F1 drivers or simple enthusiasts who wish to practice a motoring discipline in the safety and professional context of a circuit. This is why Vroom has decided to dedicate a section to the SIM that will be enriched in recent weeks with rich content intended for those wishing to learn more about the subject, discovering how to access this world, what are the basic investments and the platforms in which to compete. ..Stay Tuned.

Photocredit: © Rob Smalley / Red Bull Content Pool