Verstappen goes on the attack
This time Max Verstappen went in really hard. The four-time Dutch world champion, speaking with journalists present in China at the end of the Shanghai GP, has slammed the current technical regulations with words as heavy as boulders. The Red Bull driver spared no aspect of the new single-seaters, also pointing the finger at those who had not listened to the drivers’ warnings that emerged in recent years. An opinion, that of the Dutchman, which seems to clash with what was expressed today by Charles Leclerc at the end of his spectacular challenge with Lewis Hamilton.
“If someone likes this, then they don’t really know what motorsport is. Terrible regulations? It’s the worst ever. This is not motorsport – Verstappen thundered – look at the race. You make a clean overtake, then your battery drains on the next straight, then you make a clean overtake again. Are there people who like it this way because there are battles for the victory? But it’s only Kimi or George winning! And there isn’t really a battle. They are miles away from the rest of the pack. Ferrari sometimes has these good starts where they get ahead, but then a couple of laps are enough to sort everything out“.
“I would complain even if I were winning”
And Verstappen also anticipated the easiest accusation to make against him: you’re complaining because you’re no longer winning. “As I said, this has nothing to do with racing – continued the Red Bull #3 – I would say the same if I were winning, because I care about the product. It’s not about being angry about where I am, because in reality I’m battling even more now, so you understand even better what you have to do. For me, it’s a job“.
Max also defined these regulations as essentially hopeless: “It can be improved a bit, but it is fundamentally flawed. Is the solution to reintroduce V8s as soon as possible? Yes, but I don’t think it will happen next year. All of this is painful. Talking about it with Domenicali? Well, you have to be a bit careful how you say these things – Verstappen warned – we are talking about it. I think they understand our point of view as drivers. I think I speak for most of the drivers – the Dutchman then added – some, of course, will say it’s great because they are winning races, which is understandable. When you have an advantage, why would you give it up? You never know if you’ll have a good car again. But if you talk to most of the drivers, this is not what we like. I don’t think it’s what true F1 fans like. Maybe some like it, but they don’t understand racing. Hopefully we can get rid of this situation as soon as possible”.
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