It’s almost like clockwork every Formula 1 season. As soon as the summer break starts, the silly season gets more intense, with rumors floating around left, right, and center. This time, it’s Max Verstappen making headlines, and no, it’s not about his future in F1 or with Red Bull. Instead, it’s about his life outside of F1 (and maybe even after it). There have been speculations that Verstappen wants to create a two-car GT3 racing team to help sim racers make their way into competitive racing. As good as that cause is, could there be a possibility that he might join GT3 himself?

Before we get to Verstappen’s post-retirement plans, his 2021 rival Lewis Hamilton‘s life after F1 came into question, too, and it turns out—unsurprisingly—their lives might be polar opposites. At least, this was what was established on the On Track GP Podcast, where Matisse Armani hosted the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 winner Richard Bradley. In his question to Bradley, Armani said, “Is [forming a GP3 team] a hint that Max Verstappen is still going to want to be involved in racing [post-retirement]? You see some drivers, as soon as they’re done racing, they’re gone. Maybe Hamilton might be like that.”

Bradley replied, “Yes, Max wants to do Le Mans one day. Well, this is the perfect way to get into it. And also, with GT racing, you don’t have the aerodynamic effects of the same level you do in Formula 1. So you don’t get the dirty air, the turbulence effect. So the racing is unbelievable. And also, because of the ABS (anti-lock braking systems) and the traction control, and the balance of performance, the racing is intense as hell.”

Considering Verstappen’s interest in sim racing and racing outside F1, in general, racing in GT3 could be a stepping stone to achieving his Le Mans dream. In contrast, Lewis Hamilton has stated that it is not his dream to try other racing series like Le Mans, GT racing, or NASCAR. The Briton may want to try it as a one-off but would like to just stay in F1 until his retirement.

Armani added to Bradley’s thoughts, saying, “I’m quite interested to see how that gets along for Max. I’m excited to see his character development outside of an F1 car. I feel like there’s still a lot of potential and a lot of unseen sides of Max that we don’t know yet. So this is like an incline to what he’s interested in doing after.” While Verstappen’s dream is to race in Le Mans, he’s vowed never to race in the Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans ever again.

Read More: Details Behind $200 Million Champ Max Verstappen’s Viral Sim Set Up

Max Verstappen’s “clown show” rant about the 24 Hours of Le Mans

The Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans was held from 14th to 15th January 2023 as part of the second-ever virtual Le Mans Virtual Series. In the final race of the five-race series, Verstappen lost the race from a leading position because of a technical glitch. The two-time world champion was furious, especially considering how he’d prepared for months for the race.

After being forced to retire from the race, he ranted and said, “They call it amazingly bad luck. Well, this is just incompetence. They can’t even control their own game. This is already the third time this has happened to me now I get kicked off the game while doing this race. Also, [this is] the last time I’m ever participating. What’s the point? You prepare five months to prepare for this championship. You lead the championship, try to win this race which you prepare for two months, and they handle it like this.”

Max summarized his grievances with the constant red flags & server disconnections in the Virtual Le Mans before deeming it a “clown show”. “Honestly, it’s a joke. You cannot call this an event. A clown show.” 

Although seeing Max Verstappen back on the Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans is close to impossible, could he join GT3 as a stepping stone to his journey to the actual Le Mans?

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