Max Verstappen made harsh criticisms of Formula 1 after his first Australian GP in the category’s new era of regulations, calling on the FIA and the category to make the sport ‘real Formula 1, at high power’.
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The four-time champion highlighted that, despite starting 20th and finishing sixth after a crash in Saturday’s qualifying session, the result was only for ‘damage limitation’. He described the start of the race as ‘terrible’, as the car ran out of battery on the warm-up lap: “Somehow, on the formation lap, the battery ran out. I started without energy, basically zero power,” he stated.
Verstappen summarized the race with one word: “Chaos. Honestly, I don’t have the right words to describe it. I passed many cars because we were two seconds faster per lap, but I don’t really know which word to use”.
The Dutchman once again reinforced his concerns about the direction of Formula 1, warning that the current rules need attention: “I think they should worry about the rules. They ask my opinion, and I say what I would like to see and what I think is best for the category, because I care. I love racing and I want it to be better than this. I hope that still this year we can find different solutions so that it becomes more fun for everyone,” he said.
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When asked about his continuity in F1, Verstappen maintained a cautious tone: “I love racing, but you can only take so much. I hope the FIA and F1 are willing to listen. I’m not the only one saying this. Many are saying the same, drivers and fans. Queremos o melhor para o esporte. It’s not criticism for the sake of criticism. We want it to be real Formula 1, at high power, but today, again, that wasn’t the case,” he added.
In addition to the complicated start, Verstappen commented on tire performance and race pace: “I stayed out of trouble at the start and then moved through the middle of the pack. At a certain point, I got into a reasonable rhythm. It was clear that we had a lot of degradation and graining on the hard tire, which we thought would be better. Unfortunately, the medium tire was the best today,” he completed.
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