During the last races, Max Verstappen has been subject to a series of penalties, one of which will affect his race in Interlagos. The Dutch driver spoke about it during the press conference ahead of the race weekend.
After the Mexican nightmare, Max Verstappen is set to enter the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend not in the best position, knowing he must serve a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race due to an ICE replacement. The news emerged earlier this week, following the performance issues he faced during the Mexico City race, where Verstappen struggled with his car.
With a fourth world title to defend and only four races left, the Dutch driver was asked whether he thought it would be wise to change some components on his RB20 during this weekend. His response: “Honestly, that is something that is always unknown. You think that one particular track is the best place to take an engine or whatever penalty, but it’s never guaranteed. But yeah, it’s a possibility“.
Additionally, Max Verstappen’s behavior has become aggressive again, especially in battles with Lando Norris, which seem to have become a constant. In Texas, it was his rival who received the penalty, while in Mexico, the Dutch driver faced a penalty of 20 seconds during a pit stop after pushing Norris’s car off the track. In this regard, while responding to a question posed by ESPN during the press conference for the Brazilian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen discussed the guidelines imposed by the Federation, which are likely leading to increasing over-regulation year after year.
“I think it’s not that straightforward. Clearly, even between how many seconds that you get, so. I mean, like I said before, sometimes they work for you, sometimes they work against you. I think it’s never going to be perfect because even if you remove rules, then you get into a battle, then you want more rules because it’s not clear what is allowed or not. Then when you have too many rules, you want less rules. It just keeps on going left and right all the time. Do I think it’s over-regulated? Probably yes. I mean, in general, the rule book is only getting bigger and bigger every single year. I don’t think that’s always the right way forward“.
Yuki Tsunoda, driver for Racing Bulls, Verstappen’s affiliated team, also weighed in on the question, emphasizing the need for trust among drivers to receive proper advice on the guidelines to follow during race weekends: “Yeah, I think it’s better to also get an opinion by the drivers who actually race in previous years or probably more experienced, I would say. Yeah, even like drivers, if we can find someone that actually, probably all Formula 1 drivers knows and we all know that he’s a driver that we can trust, I’m sure he can have good views or similar views as us“.
“So I think if this feels like now, we just have to stick on guidelines and drive very safely. So yeah, I think we need someone who can advise very fairly and who can trust from our drivers“.
Battle with Hamilton in 2021 or with Norris in 2024? Verstappen responds.
In 2021, the tracks became the backdrop for the title battles between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who ultimately triumphed, becoming the Formula 1 world champion for the first time. This season, however, it seems that the Dutch driver’s focus is on Lando Norris. In this regard, Verstappen specified that “every battle is good,” adding that he wouldn’t lean towards one duel over the other: “I don’t think any is more motivating or whatever. You just try to do the best you can every single time that you go out there, really“.
From the outside, one might think that the weight on Max Verstappen’s shoulders is significant and considerable, but during the press conference, the Red Bull driver’s words went in a completely different direction: “Just try to do the best I can. Yeah. Of course, we want to win. We want to do well, but of course, it also needs to be possible. We still have a good lead. So from my side, just try to enjoy the moment. Try to just always optimise the performance.“.
Photos: Oracle Red Bull Racing.
