Max Verstappen Disqualified From Sim Race After Revenge-Ramming Another Driver
After getting spun out by another driver, the current F1 champion went on the attack.
During his weekend off, Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen decided to get behind the wheel anyway, in the iRacing Golden Toast sim racing grand prix. However, during the race, Verstappen was disqualified after ramming another driver in retaliation, knocking them both off track.
The three-hour sim racing grand prix was at Spa and, coming out of the La Source corner, German driver Sven-Ole Hasse seemingly pushed Verstappen from behind, which forced him into his Team Redline teammate Diogo Pinto. That caused both Verstappen and Pinto to spin, ruining their races. Verstappen wasn't going to let that fly, though, as the Dutchman immediately sought retaliation.
Prior to the hit, Verstappen was in third but he ended up in ninth afterward. A few corners later, Verstappen broke away from the pack and went down the escape route, which let him jump from ninth to third, right behind the second place Hasse. Once behind Hasse, Verstappen shunted him from behind, causing both drivers to spin into the tire wall. It seemed like a deliberate, retaliatory attack and it got Verstappen disqualified from the race.
When you watch the POV clip from Verstappen's cockpit, it looks like he planned on his escape route attack almost immediately after Hasse's initial hit. Verstappen expertly broke away from the pack, gunning it down the escape route and getting right behind Hasse, as if he'd done it a million times before. "He was committed, he knew was he was doing," said the commentators of Verstappen's revenge move during the replay.
The comments section from a Verstappen fan Twitter account is filled with arguing over whether Verstappen was justified in intentionally shunting Hasse. It's obviously wrong to attack another driver like that, even when provoked in sim racing, which is why he was disqualified. Still, it's kind of hilarious to see the current F1 champion attack another driver in sim racing with the sort of expert precision you'd expect of an F1 champion.
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