Max Verstappen’s participation in a charity sim racing event saw the Dutch driver fall foul of a practical joke by an F1 fan.

Verstappen was taking part in a 23-hour endurance event, called ‘The Race for Mental Health’, organised by Jimmy Broadbent – and the reigning World Champion had to put up with some jokes at his expense.

Max Verstappen has got on the wrong side of the FIA once or twice in his F1 career

Max Verstappen: Why am I being singled out?!

Entering the event as part of Team Redline, Verstappen was targeted by a fan willing to cough up some money to poke fun at the Dutch driver’s 2024 season.

Viewers of the 23 Hours of Zolder race could inflict penalties upon participants by way of making donations, and Verstappen – as the race’s highest-profile driver – found himself the primary choice.

A viewer posed as the FIA, with whom Verstappen has had several terse moments recently due to being hit with sporting penalties and punishments for cursing, and paid £100 in order to inflict penalties on the Red Bull driver.

Their first donation was sent with the message: “Stop and go penalty for car #1.”

A few minutes later, poking fun at Verstappen’s community service punishment for swearing during the Singapore GP press conference, the viewer sent through another donation and said: “Max, you used language that was coarse and offensive for broadcast, so it’s another stop-and-go for car 1. Community service is next – we’re watching.”

With the race meant as a charity fundraiser rather than a full-on competitive sim racing outing, Verstappen was able to see the fun in it as he retorted: “Why am I being singled out?!”

Showing his usual sharpness regarding the rules, Verstappen could also be heard arguing over a penalty as he claimed he shouldn’t take a penalty as his car was “number 1, not 01 so whoever did that can p**s off!”

Verstappen’s livery on his car, designed by fans, was also a source of amusement. Featured on the car was an image of Lando Norris running wide into Turn 1 at the Brazilian Grand Prix, accompanied by the caption ‘Think Different’ in reference to previous Mercedes advertisements.

Images of George Russell comparing him to Woody from Toy Story also featured, as well as FOM’s TV graphic to impose a 10-second time penalty on Verstappen.

The 23 Hours of Zolder was the sixth such Race for Mental Health organised by Broadbent, and has become a staple of the sim racing community – of whom Verstappen is a leading proponent when not racing in F1.

“This race is near and dear to me,” Broadbent said in the build-up

“I (like many others) have suffered with my own mental health issues and found charities like Mind to be invaluable. My proudest achievement to date is that our community has raised nearly £300k for this cause…it’s hard to overstate just how much of a difference that makes.”

Posting in the aftermath of the race, Broadbent revealed the extent of the funds raised by the event, posting on X (formerly Twitter) to say: “What a crazy last hour. We went from about £70k all the way to £93k, smashing our previous record! Including gift aid takes our total for this event to £103,000 raised for the amazing people over at @MindCharity.

“I am infinitely proud of this community. Thank you.”