Verstappen believes new rules are a result of F1 owners listening to the teams
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Max Verstappen has responded to Mercedes' team boss, Toto Wolff, who recently said that the new 2022 rules will be introduced to stop his team. According to the Dutchman, there are very different reasons for the new rules.
New rules
Mercedes have won all the titles since the beginning of the V6 hybrid era. With the new rules announced for 2022, the other teams should be able to close the gap to Mercedes. According to Wolff, all these rules are aimed at 'stopping' Mercedes. It is not only about the new aerodynamic rules that have been announced, but also about the budget ceiling and the new structure for distributing the prizes.
Verstappen does not agree with Wolff's statements: "I think the rules are simply the result of the new F1 owners listening to the drivers and teams. They hear that it's hard to overtake and that we want to race even closer together," said the Red Bull Racing driver to Motorsport.com.
Not enough excitement
The Dutchman cites his own fight with Valtteri Bottas at Imola, in which he could not get past the damaged car of the Finn, even though he was much faster. "We need to make racing more exciting and allow drivers to follow other cars up close. We need to make sure that qualifying is not the deciding factor during a race weekend, as is currently the case."
"I think that is why the new rules will come in 2022. And whether Mercedes will be slower because of these new rules is difficult to say. You can't even say that now," concluded Verstappen.