Verstappen’s sim ban just a ’recommendation’ - Marko

Red Bull’s ban on late-night sim racing sessions for Max Verstappen during Formula 1 race weekends is actually just a "recommendation".

That’s the revised position of the energy drink brand’s F1 consultant Dr Helmut Marko, who initially declared that he and Verstappen had "agreed" that racing "well past midnight" would no longer occur.

When he initially heard about the ’ban’, triple world champion Verstappen hit back: "No, it’s not that I have a ban or whatever.

"I don’t need to tell them what they do in their private time during the weekends, and that’s the same for me," the 26-year-old added.

Marko, 81, now says the chat he had with Verstappen about his late-night routines was actually just a "very strong recommendation".

"There is not a ban," he told Sky Deutschland, "but a very strong recommendation. He has a completely different sleep pattern, but such things that can be used against you must be prevented.

"However, it is all a strong recommendation," Austrian Marko added.

Verstappen’s gaming only became an issue when he displayed a notably bad mood throughout the Hungarian GP weekend - and not, for instance, when he won at Imola earlier this season shortly after a similarly very late night.

Seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton remarked after Hungary that the Red Bull driver was not acting like a "team leader".

"Maybe not so much a team leader but more so just always remember you are a teammate with lots of people and you have to act like a world champion," he said.

Verstappen insisted the criticism from Hamilton, 39, did not really bother him.

"Everyone can have their opinion," he told Viaplay. "That’s all fine, but I can’t do anything with that. It’s not my problem either."

The Dutchman suspects it was just Hamilton acting like a rival, both on the track as well as off the track. "For me that’s what it is, anyway," said Verstappen.

"Everyone has their own opinion, of course, and they all just do their thing. I go home, I do my thing."