(Motorsport-Total.com) – “For me, this is simply not Formula 1,” said Max Verstappen during the premier class’s winter testing in Bahrain. The four-time world champion criticized quite openly that under the new regulations, it is far too much about things like energy management.
Read more Is this still Formula 1? Andrea Stella has a clear opinion
Fernando Alonso expressed similar views, explaining that in some corners one now has to drive deliberately slowly to save energy. “At this pace, anyone can drive the car – even our cook,” the two-time champion said mockingly.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella does not share this assessment. “I think what we have seen here in Bahrain definitely confirms that it is still the ultimate challenge,” he says about the current state of Formula 1.
For him, it is still the premier class on four wheels because: “If I have to say something about these rules, it’s that the cars slide significantly more and the driver is challenged even more to get the maximum out of the car.”
He therefore sees the drivers as having even more responsibility this year than before. At the same time, however, Stella admits that Bahrain is one of the tracks where energy management plays a relatively minor role.
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“In Barcelona, the situation was a bit different,” he looks back at the previous shakedown in Spain. Because while a lot of energy is naturally collected in Sakhir, a slightly adapted driving style was required in Barcelona.
Therefore, one must first wait and see how the situation develops on other tracks. “I think these two tracks don’t necessarily provide a complete picture,” the McLaren team principal muses.
There will certainly be tracks on the calendar where, even under the new regulations, one must “brake as late as possible and drive as fast as possible in every corner” to achieve the fastest lap time in the end. On some tracks, however, that will probably not be the case.
“We still need to observe the situation a bit,” Stella explains. Nevertheless, it is already clear to him that Formula 1 is still the greatest possible challenge for the drivers – and perhaps even a bit greater than in recent years.