Toro Rosso rookie Max Verstappen has joined top simracing team Redline to compete alongside his F1 duties.

Fresh from his fourth place in Hungary - a result which Toro Rosso technical director James Key told F1i the team "needed" - Verstappen has been announced as a member of Redline which is the world's most successful virtual racing team. The 17-year-old says he is looking forward to the challenge of racing with Redline which he will use to keep sharp away from F1.

"I enjoy simracing outside of Formula 1," Verstappen said. "I've been working with Atze [Kerkhof] for a while already and of course with Team Redline and Fanatec I'll be sharing the virtual track with the fastest simracers in the world which is a great test and the way I like it!"

Team manager Kerkhof says Verstappen is already a competitive racer when it comes to simracing.

"I'm happy and honoured to have Max onboard at Team Redline!" Kerkhof said. "Looking forward to continue our sim battles like we did in the F3 last year."

Felipe Nasr's exclusive F1i column: From the cockpit

Click here for a lighter look at some scenes from the Hungarian Grand Prix

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Mercedes seeks answers after falling short in Sprint quali

Mercedes were left picking up the pieces after yet another disappointing and frustrating performance in…

1 hour ago

Bottas to start Sprint from the back after grid penalty

Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas has been handed a three-place grid penalty for Saturday's Sprint race…

8 hours ago

Miami GP: Friday's action in pictures

The action kicked off in earnest on Friday in sunny Miami on Friday, with Max…

9 hours ago

Ricciardo 'proud of what I did' with P4 on Sprint grid

Daniel Ricciardo has suffered a terrible start to his season with RB that left him…

9 hours ago

Leclerc ‘relieved’ to finally revive single-lap pace in sprint qualifying

Charles Leclerc expressed a sense of relief after securing a front-row starting position for the…

9 hours ago

Norris regrets 'pushing too hard' in final Sprint qualifying

Lando Norris had been looking in stellar form throughout qualifying for Saturday's Sprint race in…

10 hours ago