Max Verstappen explains reason for late-night Twitch streams before Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

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F1 world champion Max Verstappen has addressed his Twitch gaming habits during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend.

Verstappen was up past 3am local time competing against other streamers on the day of the race.

And this was something that came up in the post-race press conference after his comfortable victory in Jeddah.

Verstappen won the race from pole position, finishing more than 13 seconds clear of teammate Sergio Perez once the latter’s five-second unsafe release penalty was applied.

The Dutchman, who has won 19 of the last 20 Grands Prix, has already built up a 15-point lead at the top of the standings.

Only Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has denied him a perfect score of 52 out of 52 by taking the fastest lap at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Verstappen is gunning for a fourth consecutive world championship to match Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prost in the all-time list.

If he wins the Australian Grand Prix next time out, he’ll match his own record of 10 victories in a row, set last year.

Max Verstappen addresses Twitch streams

During the presser, one journalist asked Verstappen whether he’s a ‘night owl’ who uses gaming as a tool to unwind.

He explained that he operated on a European timetable even though he was racing in the Middle East.

He said: “Yeah, I mean, I just stayed a bit on European, or even UK, I would say, schedule. So I would go to bed at like 4 a.m., wake up late.”

Will Max Verstappen join Mercedes?

While Verstappen has enjoyed a serene start to his title defence on the race track, the rumour mill away from the circuit has been in overdrive.

It was reported last week that he’s the ‘hottest candidate’ to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes when the seven-time champion joins Ferrari next year.

The Silver Arrows are struggling in fourth place in the championship this year but there will be a major regulation change in 2026.

Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok doesn’t think Verstappen will defect to the Brackley outfit, but team principal Toto Wolff has refused to rule out a move.