Fake and 'racing without b*lls': F1 drivers hit out at the new Formula 1

After the first ten laps of the Australian Grand Prix, there was still some optimism that this new generation of the sport would be entertaining and exciting, but in Shanghai the drivers quickly poked through Melbourne’s “entertainment” value, with the overtakes and spectacle of the opening laps are mostly dismissed as “fake".

Sergio Perez kicked off the media day in Shaghai as the first of the 22 drivers to face the press. The Mexican is clear about what he thought of the Australian GP: “Fake.” According to the Cadillac driver, racing with the new generation of F1 cars has little to do with racing and everything to do with who has the most charged battery.

And it doesn’t stop with Perez. Many drivers speak out about the different style of racing that’s required with the major impact the battery has on a car’s performance.

The difference is especially big in high-speed corners. At Albert Park this was most evident in the fast chicane of turns 9 and 10. That chicane was used to recharge the battery, making it a breeze for the drivers to get through that iconic corner. How will that look like at other iconic corners such as 180R in Suzuka or Spa's Eau Rouge?

"I got braver and braver through qualifying, and it made me slow down the straights,” said Oscar Piastri. During qualifying in Australia, he braked later and later, but only got slower. It’s no longer about who brakes the latest or who goes through the corner the hardest. You actually lose net time doing that.

In fast corners, drivers now have to use a lower gear with the highest possible revs. That way the battery is recharged for the straight. If you don’t, you’ll be much slower on the straight and your overall lap time will be much slower. So Piastri is right: drivers with guts are being penalised.

For Max Verstappen, it’s also a painful situation for Formula 1. It’s no longer about the fastest driver, but the driver who can perfectly time lifting before a corner so they can recharge their battery most efficiently.

“If you look at the past few years, the fastest drivers were on the throttle the most on average. That now works against you, because the more you’re on the throttle, the more battery you use. So the later you brake, the earlier you go on the throttle, the worse it is for the battery. And that has such a big influence that at the moment it just doesn’t work in your favour,” Verstappen told GPblog.

It leads to a situation where, on Thursday in Shanghai, a four-time Formula 1 world champion is mainly being asked about his participation in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring. That Verstappen gets much more enjoyment out of that than F1 has several reasons, but above all, the car he can race with.

Verstappen says he is looking 100 percent more forward to his race at the Nürburgring and to future races at Spa-Francorchamps (the 24-hour race) and Le Mans. That says a lot about F1’s status, where something will need to change quickly if it wants to keep the top drivers tied to the sport in the long term.

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