Verstappen fears speaking out again: 'Someone outside this door is gonna shoot me'
Photo: Race Pictures
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Tobia is a Formula 1 journalist at GPblog with experience at international circuits. Since 2022, he has covered Grands Prix across Europe, delivering reliable coverage and insights from the paddock.
Max Verstappen opted against criticising the regulations too heavily once again after the Belgian Grand Prix weekend highlighted the superclipping issue, particularly through the final sector during qualifying.
Speaking to the media after qualifying, Verstappen admitted that the current regulations significantly reduce the driving experience through much of Spa's second sector, where the cars rely almost entirely on internal combustion power. He pointed out that the available power is comparable to that of a Formula 3 car, despite still carrying Formula 1 levels of downforce.
"For most of Sector 2, you run just on the engine. So, what is that, 450, 500 horsepower? Something like that, which is, I guess, less or more or less what a Formula 3 car has, but with F1 downforce. You can imagine, of course, that that is not very exciting to drive."
The Dutchman, however, stopped short of criticising the regulations too strongly, joking that he would rather avoid another outspoken remark. Instead, he explained that he has accepted the situation mentally and is focused on adapting as best he can, even if the current characteristics are far removed from what he enjoys most about driving a Formula 1 car.
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Photo: Race Pictures
"Honestly, I don't want to sit here and complain again because probably someone will shoot me outside the door. But like I said before, I'm mentally just adjusting to it and I'm trying to make the best out of it, even though, of course, it's not what I like, not what I love to do in Formula 1. I can also sit at home and drive nothing, but that also doesn't do anything. So I'm just trying my best."
Finally, the Dutchman admitted that Spa now feels different, but stressed that he has mentally readjusted to the new reality: "It's not Pouhon, it's the whole track, it's a different Spa, but yeah, I mentally readjust to it."
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