Max Verstappen and Red Bull strengthen F1 ties with exciting new announcement

Max Verstappen and Red Bull have further strengthened their ties in F1 with the team announcing a new “multi-year partnership” with sim racing giants Team Redline.

Verstappen has eased to a third consecutive World Championship in 2023, winning a record 16 of the 19 races so far and breaking the record for the most consecutive wins with 10 in a row between Miami in May and Monza in September.

With the RB19 car, Red Bull have enjoyed one of most dominant seasons ever seen, winning all but one race to date and clinching the team’s sixth Constructors’ title.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull join forces in the sim world

Away from the circuit, Verstappen is known to be a passionate virtual racer and last year founded Verstappen.com Racing – an initiative to promote racing on a number of platforms involving the Team Redline, the outfit he represents in the simulator world.

That partnership has now extended to a deal with Red Bull’s own sim racing outfit, with a multi-year arrangement with Team Redline confirmed on Tuesday.

Under the arrangement, Team Redline will assume responsibility for the performance management side of Red Bull’s sim racing team ahead of this year’s F1 Esports Series Pro Championship.

A dedicated performance facility will also be established at Team Redline’s base, with Red Bull announcing the team’s current Esports drivers will be retained for the new campaign.

Joe Soltysik, Red Bull’s sim team lead, said: “This partnership marks an ambitious positive step on our journey to win back our team title in F1 Esports. Since the creation of our sim racing team in 2018, we have been committed to being the best competitors on the grid and constantly looking for ways to improve our performance.

“Partnering up with one of the most successful teams in sim racing history is an opportunity we are delighted to have taken and I am incredibly excited about the potential of what we can achieve together.”

Atze Kerkhof, the Team Redline director, added: “This is an exciting new challenge for the team, having already built a good relationship with Red Bull under Verstappen.com Racing – this seemed like the logical next step for us to collaboratively take.

“Team Redline is excited for this new challenge and is looking forward to getting to work.”

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Having seen his record of 10 straight wins end in Singapore last month, Verstappen is already building a new run and will go in search of a five consecutive victory at this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix having triumphed in Japan, Qatar, the United States and Mexico over recent weeks.

The 26-year-old has emerged as one of the greatest drivers of all time over recent years, winning 31 races since the beginning of last year and 41 of the last 63 stretching back to the start of his maiden title-winning season in 2021.

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