Red Bull Content Pool
General
Verstappen doesn't mince words: "Just like a turtle, unbelievable"
- GPblog.com
Max Verstappen has expressed fierce criticism of the safety cars this season after the Australian Grand Prix. According to the reigning world champion the cars are driven unnecessarily slowly, making it almost impossible to get the tires at the right temperature for a restart. According to Verstappen, it is perfectly possible to pick up the pace a bit.
Understeer Leclerc
During the race at Albert Park Sunday, Carlos Sainz caused a safety car to go in the opening phase. When the safety car went in, it was leader Charles Leclerc who could set the pace. On the turn into the straight the Ferrari driver had to deal with understeer. Verstappen states that there was almost no grip on relatively cold tires.
"I could see Charles understeering, so I’m like ‘OK I’ll back off a bit more and get a better line’. It’s pretty terrible," Verstappen is quoted by The Race. The 24-year-old Dutchman has no good word to say about the safety car's performance in Melbourne. “It was like a turtle. Unbelievable."
Safety car Aston Martin too slow
Verstappen does not understand why only 140 kilometers per hour is driven on the straight, while that section is already fully released. Safety cars from Mercedes and Aston Martin will alternate in 2022 and it is not that they are slow cars, but still, according to the current number six in the world championship, the Aston Martin is really too slow to act in Formula 1.
In recent years, the safety car has been the target of criticism more often than not. In recent years we have heard Lewis Hamilton complain on the radio that the pace was insufficient. Verstappen was also often unhappy about the speed of the safety car, but in 2022 it all seems to be a bit worse.