Atze Kerkhof on Team Redline's reputation: 'A big mouth, but as long as you win'
Published on 02 May 2025 by Stefan Meens
Team Redline, the sim racing branch of Verstappen.com Racing, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Over the years Team Redline has fought its way to the top of the competitive esports racing world and now has an impressive list of titles to its name. Max Verstappen, who is closely involved with Team Redline and occasionally competes in sim racing, has placed his trust in Atze Kerkhof to lead Verstappen.com’s sim racing team.
This is the second of three parts in a special Verstappen.com interview with Atze. Catch up on part one here. Part two features Team Redline’s reputation, the team structure, making a career in sim racing and partnerships.
It has taken several years to build the current Team Redline. Throughout the years, the team has seen many sim-drivers come and go. About six years ago, another team was acquired, and the teams came together under the Team Redline banner. Atze elaborates: “We used to have a quite a lot of drivers, but we slowly phased that out, with those who could compete at the highest level remaining. It used to just be a hobby, but now people make a living with sim racing. We have drivers on the payroll and they can win a lot of prize money.”
Making a career at Redline goes further than ‘just’ sim racing. “We have a lot more to offer in Team Redline, which gives opportunities for later in drivers’ careers. You can’t be at your peak for twenty years. After six years or so, there’s a bit of a plateau and it’s often time for the next step. We offer opportunities to progress within Team Redline, depending on wishes, skills and motivation.”
Asked about what the profile of a ‘typical’ Team Redline driver should be, Atze says: “We receive messages on a daily basis of people wanting to join the team, but we don’t have a specific profile drivers need to adhere to, apart from that we expect they can fight for world championships. It’s about the whole picture and the team operating as a whole. You want people who can put the team above their own ambition. It means you can be as strong a unit as possible against the other teams. We try to be cleverer with the right support, management and drivers. We really take care in who we select.”
The greater good and prioritising the success of the team has been at the core of Team Redline and has earned the team a reputation. “We’re sometimes known, to put it bluntly, as the nasty ones on track. We’ve got a big mouth, and we’ll make our opinion known. We might be vocal, but we win. You have the right to be loud as long as your results make up for it, that's how we see it.”
Team Redline is a professional sim racing team, but the streams on Twitch show a team of friends. “If you can’t put the team above your own ambition, then you won’t work hard for your teammates. For example, if you’re not sharing set-ups or you withhold knowledge, the team concept goes out the window; you’re already fighting a lost battle. We’re really strict in that respect and make sure things run smoothly and there are not breaks within the team. If the atmosphere and team spirit is right, then the team runs well.”
The results of Team Redline are nothing short of impressive, but not a given. “Every year is a new challenge. We don’t know at the start of the year which competitions features, that’s usually announced last-minute. But in general, we’ve pretty much won every big competition.”
Atze adds: “It’s especially great if we win together with our partners. To win the Virtual Le Mans series was incredible. Also all the events in which we represent BMW is really important to us. As is the Porsche Esports Supercup with Team Redline and in partnership with Red Bull Racing. We really take it seriously to deliver when we enter into a partnership.”
The collaboration with Red Bull Racing came together organically. “We’ve been in touch for years and for Team Redline it was a logical partnership as Max races for Red Bull Racing in Formula 1. Initially we weren’t ready, but we’ve really managed to turn it around and straightaway win the driver’s title in F1 Sim Racing, the official Formula 1 sim racing competition. This year we even won both titles, something we hadn’t achieved before on such a high level. It was really important for us to achieve this.”
Atze continues: “We managed to achieve this success by being very structured as a team and intentional in the way we do things, by investing in the drivers, in management and the engineering side of things. It all results in having the right people involved in engineering. Together with the drivers and test drivers, they form a close unit. This year, the F1 game was difficult, challenging and outside of everyone’s comfort zone. Then it’s all about not leaving any stones unturned to find out what works. If you do that, you will achieve success like this. I think Red Bull is happy.”
“The things you have to work extra hard for, the things that always seemed impossible, are become more and more possible”, adds Atze. “It’s about a specific synergy that’s a result of years of finetuning and having the right people in the right places. Every year brings its specific races that we really focus on. If we manage to win, then they’re equally special. In general, we did all that we wanted to do and we’re really proud of it.”
The final part of the series will be posted on Saturday, where Atze will elaborate on simulators for professional drivers, how to make the move from virtual to real racing, and the opportunities and future of Team Redline.
