Former Formula One driver Scott Speed has been suspended from iRacing for intentionally crashing into opponents on the online game. The suspension was a result of a conflict with a popular Twitch streamer.
Racing simulators can be quite realistic and you will often see a lot of professional drivers use these simulators to promote themselves and practice their driving skills. iRacing is one of the most serious simulators available to play and is often littered with drivers like Scott Speed, a former Toro Rosso driver.
Online racers that intentionally crash into fellow competitors are not uncommon, whether driven by rage or just out to ruin someone’s day. However, it’s not something that you would expect from a professional driver. But that’s exactly what happened during an online race recorded by streamer Jake Hewlett. Speed and Hewlett collided on the second lap of a race at the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit while battling for the lead:
The collision looked accidental and is something that could have happened to a real racing driver on real circuit. No blame could really be placed on either driver’s shoulders and it would likely simply be considered a racing incident. But Speed clearly felt angry at Hewlett.
He opted to spin out Hewlett. When Hewlett was lapping Speed, Speed attempted to spin the Porsche 911 of Hewlett. His attempt was unsuccessful, having missed the rear of the car. At the following corner, Speed cut the inside of the corner at full speed to T-bone Hewlett. He missed that as well:
iRacing is a subscription service so that the bad drivers and people who intentionally wreck others don’t ruin the fun and realism for everyone else. To help achieve this, iRacing has strict rules about what you can and can’t do. As a result of this recent incident, Speed was suspended from iRacing.
Speed fired back at the suspension, telling The Drive:
“This is not real life, it’s a game. The penalty for my action if protested against, is a suspension, which I accept and received. I personally wouldn’t feel like a man protesting a guy who I just accidentally wrecked out of the lead for returning the favor. But that’s me, and I understand that thinking is not treating iRacing with the appropriate amount of respect and is wrong. For that I sincerely apologize.”
It seems that Speed may not be returning to the virtual racing world, this his racing simulator setup having been sold on the Facebook Marketplace for $7500 in the days following the incident.
This is not the first time that Speed has been aggressive on iRacing. Footage in posted in December shows Speed intentionally crashing into another driver during a rallycross race.
