Right direction: F1 drivers welcome tweaks, seek bigger changes

Miami, United States (AFP) — Formula One’s drivers on Thursday welcomed rules tweaks made on safety grounds, but warned that more was needed to improve the racing at this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.

Speaking at an official news conference, most drivers said the changes made to the levels of “super-clipping” and of battery power harvesting would reduce dangers, but have little overall effect on the spectacle in the sport’s new hybrid era.

While Aston Martin’s Canadian driver, Lance Stroll lambasted the new formula as “fundamentally flawed” and a thousand times less fun than Formula Three, others took a more positive approach.

“The positive thing is that we had some nice meetings with F1 and the FIA and I think that’s probably a starting point for the future, even if there is time for that or maybe I’m not here anymore,” said four-time champion Max Verstappen, who has struggled this season.

Verstappen had been a leading critic of this season’s changes, accusing F1 of losing its identity and suggesting that he was contemplating his future if the sport did not take action to salvage its heritage as an all-out test of power and speed for drivers and machines.

“I really hope that the drivers have more input to the organisers in general because most drivers have a good understanding and a good feel of what is needed to make F1 a good product, a fun product.”

“At the end of the day, it’s a very complex and political sport, but at least I think everyone has tried their best to do something — but, of course, it won’t change the world!”

The conflict has stemmed from this year’s introduction of the 50-50 split between the use of battery power and traditional engine power in an attempt to create a greener sport.

Many drivers feel the sport needs more naturally aspirated power from an engine and less from the battery.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg. “I’m curious to see how it feels and works on track now.”

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri said the collaboration had produced good changes, but added that he felt the chief problems could not be fixed without a fundamental overhaul of the hardware of the power units.

He said it was good that the rules had been tweaked to reduce the huge imbalance in performance and speed between cars that are using maximum power and those slowing to harvest and store battery power.

A crash in Japan involving Oliver Bearman of Haas, who escaped serious injury, left many drivers worried about similar future accidents.

“After Olly’s crash, something needed to change and it is good that they listened to us,” said Piastri. “The tweaks are good, and sensible and well thought out, so it is a positive thing, but let’s wait and see how it pans out from a safety point of view.”

Many drivers and observers had criticized the formula for producing artificial racing controlled by computers and the need for management of battery power.