Max Verstappen‘s sim racing skills are catching the attention of F1’s biggest names, with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff seeing the future of racing through his own son’s eyes.
“Young people don’t see any difference between real and virtual racing anymore,” Wolff told Auto, Motor, and Sport. “The graphics are just that good now.”
He should know. His young son is living proof of how racing is evolving.
When Wolff took his son to race in Italy, something interesting happened. The track wasn’t new to his boy at all – he’d already mastered it virtually.
“My son sometimes does 20 five-minute kart races in a row on the simulator,” Wolff explained. “He’s learning everything there – starts, crashes, the whole deal.”
It’s a whole new world of training that’s changing how drivers prepare.
The virtual experience is so realistic that young racers are getting thousands of hours of practice before they ever hit a real track. That’s pretty amazing when you think about it.
Wolff believes this could be the future of driver training, though he admits it might not be for everyone.
“You should probably recommend this kind of training to every driver,” he said. “Though the older generation might struggle with it a bit. And not everyone’s going to take to it like Max does.”
Verstappen, the current F1 champion, is famous for his extensive sim racing practice – something that’s clearly paying off on real tracks.
The message is clear: in modern racing, success might just start with a gaming setup rather than a garage.
