Max Verstappen is about to jump back into a GT3 car with very little lead time, and according to Motorsport.com, he hasn't driven one since leading his class at the Nurburgring 24 Hours back in May. On October 17, he will climb into the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the GT World Challenge Europe finale at Portimao, sharing driving duties with Chris Lulham and Ben Barnicoat. The seat opened up because Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon are racing at the World Endurance Championship round that same weekend. Meanwhile, Valentino Rossi will be on the same grid in a WRT-run BMW.
To prepare for this insane crossover, Verstappen relies on a home setup that avoids motion platforms entirely. Speaking on Team Redline's YouTube channel, he explained his choice to stick with a static rig:
"I'm driving at home on a static rig because it's faster. All these kinds of motion rigs are slower but of course, if you want to try and replicate a little bit of what you feel in real life, then yeah, you buy a motion rig. But I think it's not really necessary at the moment."
At home in Monaco, his hardware includes Simucube ActivePedals, a Precision Sim Engineering LM-X wheel, and a triple 32-inch curved display setup made of Samsung Odyssey G7s. The wheelbase driving that rim is a Leo Bodnar SimSteering2 Ultimate, paired with a Custom Recaro Podium seat and an F1 World Drivers' Championship trophy sitting right next to the setup. Estimates put a comparable build somewhere between $25,000 and $35,000 or more, and it also features a Red Bull Mini Fridge Baby Cooler 2020 RB-BC2020.
Speaking to Car and Driver at the beginning of 2026, he detailed what matters most for the build:
"It's pretty custom, and you can buy it all online, but you get into some personal settings as well. The most important to get right is the brake pedal. And the wheelbase. Those are probably the most important parts aside from a good computer, but for me, those are the most important things to get right if you want to be really competitive."
When he is on the move, Team Redline builds him a travel version inside his motorhome using a Sim-Lab P1-X cockpit, and he even has a couple more in other locations, including one on his yacht. For software, iRacing is his go-to platform.
Beyond his own driving, Verstappen has big ambitions for the virtual racing world. Speaking to The Athletic last year, he shared his ultimate goal for sim talent:
"My dream is of having a sim driver move into the real world and making it a success story, and seeing him progress, and seeing him evolve, hopefully in the long term, make him basically a professional driver. That he can make his living off it. That is the goal, and that's something that slowly we're making ways in."
