Verstappen participated in the final round of the 2024-25 GTP IMSA Global Esports Championship as a wildcard option.
Having started third on the grid at a virtual Daytona, Verstappen launched a bold move for the lead at the first corner of the race and collided with the championship-leading Williams BMW with both cars going off track and sliding down the order.
Verstappen’s car suffered damage in the incident, with the 27-year-old hit with a drive-through penalty for causing a collision.
The car, shared with Gustavo Ariel, picked up further damage during the race and ultimately finished 12th as Williams Esports took the title.
Speaking after the incident, Verstappen explained that he locked the rear axle under braking for the first corner and acknowledged that he had made a “mistake.”
He said: “I just locked up a bit the rears and in this car, it’s very hard to control that, so I just went wide.”
“Of course, there was also the other car that I couldn’t avoid, so that was a bit unlucky there. My mistake.
“After that, I think both cars had damage, so it was quite a difficult first stint. Then we boxed. cleaned the car.
“I would say, [it was] almost fully repaired, so the pace was almost back.
“I tried to overtake a backmarker – I think a GTD car – and he didn’t keep his line.
“I think he just wanted to keep out of the way, to be honest, a bit of miscommunication and I had damage again within three laps of the stint.”
Verstappen clinched a fourth consecutive Formula 1 World Championship in F1 2024, becoming only the second driver after Red Bull icon Sebastian Vettel to win his first four titles in successive years.
The Red Bull driver’s sim racing penalty comes at the start of a year in which Verstappen will be walking a disciplinary tightrope, with a potential F1 race ban looming.
Verstappen will begin the F1 2025 season on eight penalty points, with drivers triggering a race ban if they hit 12 points over a 12-month period.
Former Haas star Kevin Magnussen was forced to sit out last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix having become the first driver to be banned under F1’s penalty points system introduced in 2014.
Verstappen picked up six of his eight penalty points across the final five rounds of F1 2024, with the Red Bull man hit with two penalty points for forcing McLaren driver Lando Norris off track at the Mexican Grand Prix in October.
A week later, Verstappen was given a further point for being under the minimum Virtual Safety Car delta time during the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race.
Another point followed for driving unnecessarily slowly in qualifying in Qatar, which sparked a furious row between Verstappen and Mercedes driver George Russell.
The following week, Verstappen was given two penalty points for causing a collision with Norris’s McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri at the start of the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Verstappen’s penalty points tally is not scheduled to decrease until June 30, the day after the Austrian Grand Prix, when his two points for causing a collision with Norris in the 2024 race falls outside of the 12-month window.
