Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen launched his own racing team on Tuesday (12th April 2022), combining all of his real-world and virtual endeavors under one banner. The newly founded Verstappen.com Racing also brings Red Bull onboard as a founding sponsor.
The new Verstappen.com Racing logo features the Red Bull branding along with Verstappen.com, Max’s personal website which has Max Verstappen content, fan engagement and commercial activities surrounding the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver. There do not seem to be any direct ties to Oracle Red Bull Racing or its esports team Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports.
Former Formula 1 driver and Max’s father Jos Verstappen is set to compete in the Belgian Rally Championship. Thierry Vermeulen is a rookie in the ADAC GT Masters championship this year. Both drivers will race under the Verstappen.com Racing banner this season.
Virtually, the team will be represented by Team Redline, a long-established team that’s been succeeding at the highest levels in the sim racing sphere for more than 20 years. Max has been a member of the team for years, competing in competitions such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual and various other competitions on the iRacing service.
“I am truly happy that, with the Verstappen.com Racing team, I can share the love for racing with drivers and teams I feel closely connected to,” Max said in the press release. “Apart from the fun it brings me, I can also share my racing knowledge with them, which hopefully helps everybody to improve themselves.”
As it stands, Team Redline is competing in a number of different sim racing esports across multiple different sim platforms. The artwork featured in the announcement look to be the cars for Jos and Thierry, a Team Redline #71 iRacing BMW M4 GT3 car and an unidentified #33 Porsche GT car.
Another page on the Verstappen.com site features an rFactor 2 Formula Pro ride with the Verstappen.com Racing livery. We’ll keep our eyes on the lookout for further developments on the new team and branding, as well as which racing esports events it shows up next in.
Image thanks to Verstappen.com and Team Redline