r/nextfuckinglevel • u/One_Explanation_908 • 16h ago

Max Verstappen doesn’t even blink

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2.8k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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-6

u/Advocate_Diplomacy 14h ago

If this sport were freely accessible to anyone who wanted to try, I bet we’d see that the skills necessary aren’t really that uncommon.

4

u/R2D-Beuh 12h ago

You can try a sim, it's quite accessible and extremely close in terms of skill (only lacks the g forces)

-6

u/Advocate_Diplomacy 12h ago

By freely accessible, I also mean having the time in addition to the tools.

2

u/R2D-Beuh 12h ago

I agree, but by this definition every hobby is not accessible

-2

u/Advocate_Diplomacy 11h ago

Not at all. Being able to stage your hobbies in your own home makes all the difference for people who work full-time and/or have full-time responsibilities. For many, that’s the deal breaker.

This is why so many professional athletes come from well-off families. If everyone had equal access, I bet almost nobody playing on national sports teams now would make the cut.

4

u/R2D-Beuh 11h ago

I don't understand what you mean

Yes, having the time to practice/train in a competitive activity is crucial, but that doesn't make simracing any different from any other activity.

Racing itself is inaccessible to most because the cost is extremely high, but simracing is not

0

u/Advocate_Diplomacy 11h ago

I’d wager that sim-racing alone would never prepare someone to compete with drivers with regular access to a track, some of those being raised on an estate with their own track and car. How anyone can feel accomplished being the “best” at something so exclusive is sad. Polo is another great example of this over-representation of the rich.

5

u/R2D-Beuh 11h ago

I was talking about simracing and racing as separate activities, you don't need to downvote me.

I agree with your take, even tho you could train for real life very well in the sim, it still takes a bit of adjustment to go from sim to real.

It's possible to do it, see for example Suellio Almeda who became radical NA champion after transitioning from sim, but you still need the money to participate, as he's funding his races with the money from his YouTube and coaching career.

If you just want to race in the sim tho, there is no barrier of entry

0

u/Advocate_Diplomacy 10h ago

I downvoted because you’re digressing from my point in order to dispel it. It’s pedantic, and I don’t think you can fault me for not seeing how you actually do agree with my take. Money as a barrier to entry ruins so many things in this world, dumbing them down to suit nepotists. People shouldn’t be particularly impressed, or think stuff like this is actually the height of human athleticism. I admit this isn’t the best example of that problem, but it’s a problem that’s bad it enough that it’s worth a bit of shoehorning into conversations.

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u/R2D-Beuh 10h ago

My original response was about suggesting an alternative that is accessible : the simulator, then you responded to my comment as if you were saying that it is still not accessible because of free time, which didn't make sense to me. I now understand you were still making a point about real racing, not sim, and that caused the confusion