Van der Garde sees advantage for Verstappen and Red Bull: "Would be great"

"No, I've ridden against other guys. Not really against Nyck", says Van der Garde when he is asked by GPBlog.com if he has already ridden against his teammate at Racing Team Netherlands. The 35-year old driver notices 'a generation difference' during virtual racing. "Lando or Max and guys like that have grown up with it and those guys are so good at it, they can do all the tricks you need".

Verstappen and Norris tremendously fast

Van der Garde himself also has a lot of experience as a car driver and he knows almost all circuits, but on the sim other things are asked for. For example, the lines that are driven are different. "They know exactly that, so that's nice to see. I'll come and have a look after so many years without experience and then you're just seriously short. They're going so fast with those games, that's insane, really insane", that's how he can enjoy it.

Before the outbreak of the coronavirus, Verstappen and Norris were already very adept at sim racing, but now that Formula 1 has come to a standstill, more drivers have started sim racing. Boys like Charles Leclerc, Alexander Albon and George Russell, for example, often compete against each other, but can it also help and play an advantage when the pinnacle of motorsport will soon start again?

An advantage on the circuit or not?

Van der Garde has a hard head in that. "Sim racing is fun to do and it keeps you sharp, but it's completely different from the real world. Not only do you miss the G-forces, but the lines and the way you do things are different," he explains. "The only thing that's good is that you have competition. That's still exciting. But compared to driving on a track, it's a world of difference."

For the Grands Prix of Austria, Great Britain and Hungary it has already been confirmed that there will be no public present and there is a very good chance that several F1-weekends will be added to that list. For drivers this is also going to be different. "As a driver you are suddenly a lot calmer", Van der Garde laughs. "It's different. It's very different. As a driver, you miss certain energy from the crowd and from the people standing next to the track who are there for you. That's a big loss, but you want to do your job as well as possible and whether or not there's an audience, it doesn't matter that much".

Two Grands Prix are reportedly planned for the Red Bull Ring and at Silverstone this is also possible. Van der Garde finds it difficult to say whether this will play a major role for the Formula 1 driver. "A less result in the first race, you can then make up for in a second race. It's also down to the track, one track is better for one driver than another," says the WEC driver, who knows one thing for sure: "You have to make sure you perform to the maximum and try to score as many points as possible. There are fewer races in the championship so you have to perform consistently."

Verstappen and Red Bull can start well

For Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen it is a big advantage that the season starts in Spielberg. The last two years Verstappen was the winner on the Austrian asphalt. "Yes of course that's a big advantage, because if you have the first two races there and you win them both... With all due respect, that's of course a great start to your season. It gives a good boost to the team, but is also good for your own self-confidence. To the left or to the right, I hope that's where the first race is and that Max can show how good that Red Bull is and that he can compete for that victory. That would be great."