- Max Verstappen rebranded Team Redline as Verstappen Sim Racing before Suzuka.
- The move folds sim racing into his wider Verstappen Racing structure.
- The team keeps its full program, with driver growth still central.
Max Verstappen has put his sim racing team under his own name. On March 23, 2026, days before the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, the four-time Formula 1 champion announced that Team Redline will now race as Verstappen Sim Racing.
The move brings the team under the wider Verstappen Racing banner and ties a famous esports name more closely to his growing motorsport project.
The change is more than a new logo. Verstappen is using his name to build one clear racing identity across sim racing and GT3. He wants sim racing to serve as a real pathway into pro motorsport, not as a side activity.
From passion to platform: the origins of Team Redline
Team Redline began in 2000. Founder Dom Duhan built the team into one of sim racing’s best-known names. Over time, it won titles across Assetto Corsa, F1, Gran Turismo Sport, iRacing, Rennsport, and rFactor 2.
Verstappen joined the team in 2015. What started as a deep personal interest soon became part of his work as a driver. He has often linked his sim racing hours to his sharpness on real tracks.
Verstappen has said one of his best memories was joining the group in late 2014 and early 2015. He recalled getting to know the team and taking part in practice sessions that even drew notice outside sim racing. Those early days helped shape a bond that lasted for more than a decade.
That link grew stronger in April 2022. Team Redline then entered a formal partnership with Max Verstappen, not long after he launched Verstappen.com Racing. From there, the team became a core part of his wider motorsport plan.
Now that link has a new public face. The name Verstappen Sim Racing places the squad inside a broader system that stretches from virtual racing to GT3 competition. It also gives the team a name that casual fans will know at once.
A record of excellence on the virtual track
The rebrand comes after a run of major wins. Team Redline has built a record that many rivals cannot match. It won back-to-back Esports World Cup titles in 2024 and 2025.
The team also took PESC crowns in 2022, 2024, and 2025. In 2025, it added the IMSA Esports Global Championship GTP title with BMW. Those results helped make Team Redline the most successful sim racing team in the world.
At the 2025 Esports World Cup, the team made more history. It became the first team to win back-to-back titles at the event. Luke Bennett led that charge with four podiums in the finals, MVP honours, a $10,000 individual prize, and a share of the $200,000 winning purse.
The group also runs Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing in the Formula 1 Sim Racing World Championship. That role gives it reach far beyond one series. It also shows how deeply the team sits inside top-level sim racing.
Chris Lulham: the proof of concept
The clearest case for Verstappen’s vision may be Chris Lulham. He joined Team Redline in 2021. Four years later, Verstappen chose him to step from sim racing into real GT3 racing.
Lulham did not just make the jump. He won. Racing in the Verstappen Racing program in GT World Challenge Europe, he took a class win at the 24 Hours of Spa and won Gold Cup titles in both the Endurance and Sprint championships with Thierry Vermeulen.
He had already shown what that path could look like. In 2025, Lulham shared a car with Verstappen and won on their first outing together at NLS9. That result gave weight to Verstappen’s long-held claim that sim racing can produce real drivers.
Lulham now stands at the centre of this project. His path gives Verstappen Sim Racing a working model. Do well in the simulator, and a real seat may follow.
What Max Verstappen and the team’s leadership said
Verstappen said the move felt natural. “Sim racing is a big passion of mine outside Formula 1, and Team Redline has been a big part of that,” he said via Motorsport Week. He added that the team is where he spends much of his time away from the track and that it forms part of what he is building with Verstappen Racing.
“This step to Verstappen Sim Racing feels very natural. We’re taking everything we’ve achieved and bringing it closer in line with the wider Verstappen Racing platform. I’ve always believed that sim racing can develop real talent, and we’re already seeing that with Chris Lulham,” the Dutchman added.
CEO Atze Kerkhof cast the move as the next stage of the team’s story. He said sim racing now serves as a real training ground for real-world talent. He also said the team wants to keep growing from here.
Founder Dom Duhan also backed the change. He said he was proud to see what Team Redline built continue under the Verstappen Sim Racing name. He called the switch a natural step that can help inspire and develop the next wave of racing talent.
What the rebrand means for the wider sim racing world
The timing matters. Verstappen made the move just before a Formula 1 weekend, when attention around him is at its highest. That puts the new name in front of far more people than a quiet offseason launch would.
Team Redline already meant a lot inside sim racing. Verstappen Sim Racing says more to the wider sports audience. It links a niche but powerful brand to one of the biggest names in motorsport.
The team says its race program will stay the same. It will still compete across the same platforms and series. The name changes, but the goals do not.
For Verstappen, this fits a bigger plan. He is building a racing group that works across many levels of the sport. The simulator is not outside that plan. It now sits near the centre of it.
