Max Verstappen and Lando Norris have criticized the new Formula 1 car after poor performances in qualifying for the Australian season opener.
Four-time F1 world champion Verstappen crashed out shockingly at the start of Q1 on the first lap after his Red Bull car suffered a “strange” rear axle failure. He will start on Sunday on the 20th.
advertise
Norris won his first title last year, qualifying sixth on the grid behind his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. Meanwhile, Mercedes locked down the front row, with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli sharing pole position.
While qualifying was marred by various issues with multiple cars, the new energy deployment aspect of qualifying angered many in the field. In particular, the driver is forced to downshift at the end of the straight due to maximizing power, rather than simply accelerating further.
“I’m definitely not going to have fun in these cars. I don’t know,” Verstappen said.
“I mean, you can make your own decision, but I think if you look at what’s going on on the ship, you’ll see that I’m right. There’s nothing you can do.
advertise
“You can only make it slower, and then, of course, you get more of a normal speed trajectory, but it’s a slower speed trajectory.”
Verstappen then called on F1’s governing body, the FIA, to make changes: “The formula is not correct and it’s a little difficult to change. But I think we need to do it.”
Speaking to Dutch media, Verstappen added: “I’m not enjoying it at all. Emotionally and feeling-wise, I’m completely exhausted. It has nothing to do with the race.”
Lando Norris and Max Verstappen critical of new F1 car (Getty Images)
Norris, whose McLaren looked somewhat behind Mercedes’ leading pace, was equally stern and pessimistic.
“It’s not great, it’s not great,” he told Sky Sports F1. “I think George [Russell] Will be the only one who says it’s good.
advertise
“It was just inconsistent. It was tricky, I was a bit at a disadvantage, there were a lot of problems with the car. Trying to fix them but you just try to minimize them and luck was not on my side.
Verstappen crashes in qualifying (Getty Images)
“I’m actually pretty happy with where I ended up and I’m figuring out how to drive the car.”
When asked how the racing community felt about the qualifying lap, Norris responded: “It was already bad, so it could have been worse.”
The Brit also said: “We’ve gone from being the best car to being the worst car.”
The Australian Grand Prix starts at 4am (GMT) on Sunday, with a host of unknowns entering the 58-lap race.
