Max Verstappen had a disappointing week in Australia, as the reigning champion had a DNF elimination. After the tiring week in Australia, Max is spending the non-race weekend relaxing and playing sim racing.

It is not unknown that Verstappen is a huge fan of video games. So, he spends a lot of time playing video games when he’s not racing. Further, the Red Bull driver is also a part of a sim racing team, Team Redline. The reigning champion decided to spend some time in sim racing during the weekend break. So, he was playing with his friend and fellow professional sim racer from Team Redline, Gianni.

Further, a clip went viral on the internet where Gianni got excited after outperforming Verstappen. So, Gianni says to Max, “AHHH man clapped.” The Dutch F1 driver was annoyed and jokingly threats to slam Gianni into the wall in the game. Verstappen said, “You wait in the race, I’ll clap you in the wall.”

A “very complex” issue behind the DNF for Max Verstappen

The 24-year-old is having a rough season. He had to face a DNF elimination in the first race in Bahrain. His car’s fuel pump failed to deliver the fuel to the engine due to the presence of a vacuum.

READ MORE: FIA Bites Back at Max Verstappen Following Recent Aston Martin-Mercedes Safety Car Claims

Recently, Verstappen ran into another DNF in the Australian GP. The driver experienced an issue with the car. As soon as Max came out of the car, it caught fire.

Later, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko revealed the car faced a fuel leak. Marko further revealed that the team knows the reason behind the leak. However, he didn’t clarify the reason. But it’s different from the Bahrain incident. Marko said, “We were able to clarify the cause of the fuel leak in Max’s car. The matter is very complex. The problem is absolutely different from that of Bahrain.”

The two DNFs in the last three seasons cost Max Verstappen around a loss of 36 points, which can affect his title defending run later in the season. Verstappen is currently at P6 on the drivers’ standing with 25 points which he bagged winning the Saudi Arabian GP.

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The next race in the 2022 season is the Emilia Romagna GP, where Max finished first last season. Let’s see if Verstappen can win the race again or, at least, finish the race next week in Imola.