Is Verstappen now getting closer to Mercedes? "Gap isn't that big on Sundays''

Formula 1 has planned to ban Party Mode for the first time during the Belgian Grand Prix, but had to postpone it until the Italian Grand Prix. The question now, however, is to what extent this will affect sport at all?

Mercedes customers in trouble

Suddenly there was a letter for the Formula 1 teams. From the Belgian Grand Prix onwards, qualifying mode is banned. It seems to be an emergency coup by the FIA and F1 to stop Mercedes from seizing power. According to Allard Kalff, however, it will have little effect on Mercedes.

''For Mercedes it won't cause any problems, because in the race they will make a difference without that mode. Racing Point and Williams may have bigger problems, because they will only have to try to finish as high as that on Saturday. The differences are much smaller there than between Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen'', says Formula 1 analyst Allard Kalff at the podcast F1 aan Tafel.

Verstappen comes closer

According to Kalff, it is certain that the gap between Mercedes and Verstappen will narrow on Saturday. ''Mercedes does take a bigger step than the competition on Saturdays. Verstappen is now a second slower on Saturdays, but the gap is not that big on Sundays. Without that Party Mode, however, the Mercedes will have a longer lifespan again, which means that the power can be increased on Sundays''.

At the moment, however, there is no new rule. It has been postponed until the Italian Grand Prix and even then the question is how Formula 1 is going to control this. ''The problem is not that the mode will be banned, but that it has now been postponed for one race and that the FIA does not know at all how to control it'', concludes Kalff.