F1, Miami GP: “It’s just a small touch-up”, the modification of the regulations “won’t change much” according to Max Verstappen

Quadruple Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull), very critical since the start of the season towards the new technical regulations, displayed his skepticism on Thursday about the adjustments which will come into force this weekend in Miami.

“It’s only a small touch-up, it’s not yet what we need to be able to really attack fully,” the Dutchman underlined in front of many journalists gathered in the paddock of the Hard Rock Stadium. It’s complicated to get everyone to agree. I just hope that for next year, we can make very, very big changes. »

“I think everyone tried to do their best to at least contribute something, even if obviously it won’t change much,” added Isack Hadjar’s teammate within the Red Bull team.

F1 authorities took advantage of the long forced break of five weeks due to the conflict in the Middle East, which led to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs, to make regulatory changes, particularly after the terrible accident of Oliver Bearman (Haas) in Japan at the end of March.

The regulations at the origin of an accident

Arriving at full speed, the young Englishman crashed violently against a protective wall after narrowly avoiding the Argentinian Franco Colapinto (Alpine), who was traveling much slower than him because he was recharging his car’s electric battery.

The single-seaters have been turned upside down this season with the entry into force of new regulations which have profoundly modified the chassis, aerodynamics and especially the engines of the cars, now 50% thermal and 50% electric, which implies unnatural energy management for the drivers.

The new version of the technical regulations aims in particular to considerably reduce the speed differences between the cars to prevent such a mishap from happening again and also aims to simplify energy management for the drivers in order to allow them to attack more during qualifying.

If they should not shake up the hierarchy and call into question the hegemony of Mercedes, these adjustments were welcomed by most drivers as a step forward, although it is still timid. Above all, she highlighted that the authorities were ready to listen to pilots’ criticism, which was not necessarily the case in the past.

“The positive point is that we had good meetings with F1 and the FIA ​​(International Automobile Federation), appreciated Verstappen. This is probably an interesting starting point for the future. Even in a few years, if I’m no longer here, I really hope that the drivers will have more of a say with the organizers in general. »

Since the start of the year, “Mad Max” has been vocal against the new regulations and notably described the new single-seaters as “Formula E on steroids”.