Furious Verstappen blasts Virtual Le Mans “clown show” after server trouble

Verstappen and his Team Redline outfit were leading the race after 18 hours when technical glitches struck. The race had to be red-flagged due to a “security breach”, with the server instability causing several drivers - including Verstappen’s team - to be disconnected. 

The Dutchman, who would have been several laps down had he rejoined following the issues, vented his anger on his Twitch stream and urged other sim racers to “uninstall the game”. 

“They call it amazingly bad luck, well this is just incompetence,” said Verstappen. 

“They can’t even control their own game. This is the third time already that has happened to me now, being kicked off the game while doing this race.

“This is also the last time ever because what’s the point? You prepare for five months to try and win this Championship, you are leading the Championship, you try to win this race which you have prepared for two months and they handle it like this. 

“Honestly, it is a joke. You cannot even call it an event. It’s a clown show.

“That’s why it’s better to retire the car because driving around in P15 for six hours makes no sense for everyone. It’s a disgrace with all the effort we have put in as a team.

“I really hope the organisers consider where they put this game going forward because on this platform it’s not going to work.

“It’s game over. I think I have more chance if I just go to Vegas and the casino…I would have more chance to win.

“I think I’m going to uninstall the game. That’s nice…frees up a bit of space on the PC anyway. And I really hope everyone uninstalls the game.”

It is not the first time such glitches have ruined Verstappen’s experience of the event. At the inaugural race in 2020, the two-time world champion had been leading before a frozen screen led to a collision with a rival.