Max Verstappen admits he is not a fan of the current generation of Formula 1 cars due to the increased difficulty to overtake.
The Dutchman has come under fire in recent weeks after a number of incidents in the opening three races, including contact with Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain and Sebastian Vettel a week later in China.
And though the current designs may be the fastest the sport has ever seen, the Red Bull driver admits the impact on the racing has been purely negative.
“It was a lot more fun in 2016. You could follow each other better and, in some way, it was more gratifying,” Verstappen claimed on his official website.
“Since 2017 it’s a lot harder and less fun to really race each other. The braking distance is shorter and it’s just very hard to follow each other, the car can also make unexpected movements and suddenly break out.”
Another area the 20-year-old would like to see a reversal on is tyre compounds and a simplification of the current system.
“I would only like to see a soft and a hard tyre [at races]. Ultimately people do not have to know if it’s Ultrasoft or Supersoft,” Verstappen said.
“When you go to a track and you take an Ultrasoft and a Soft, then you call the Ultrasoft a soft one and the Soft one will be the hard tyre. I think people do not care how soft the tyre really is.”
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He concluded by assessing the current position of his Red Bull team, who, despite a double retirement in Bahrain, have looked more competitive even if the Dutchman has yet to show it.
“The car is okay. We are still a bit short in qualifying, but in the races, it’s looking good,” he said.
“So far, due to various reasons, we haven’t achieved the results we wanted, but now I’m looking forward to Baku. I think we can have a good race there, and there are still eighteen races to come, so hopefully we will do well.
“The car is in a good condition and I think it will be even better on a street circuit. I am very much looking forward to it in any case!”
