Max Verstappen has described the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as "very boring" and said had he been watching it at home, he would "turned off the TV".
Although Albert Park rarely delivers a thriller barring unusual weather or opening-lap incidents, the 2018 round featured just five on-track overtakes (excluding the first lap).
There was also a lack of wheel-to-wheel action as cars simply couldn't get close to one another, with a potential victory battle called off by Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in order to save his engine – something which is now more important then ever with just three units per driver across a 21-race calendar.
Speaking after the race, Verstappen, who trailed the Haas cars in the opening half of the race before they retired and then Fernando Alonso in the latter stages, unable to find a way past, described the race as "worthless" and insisted the cars, not the circuit, were to blame.
"Completely worthless, very boring," he is quoted as saying by Autosport, adding had he been watching as a fan, he "would have turned off the TV.
"You do your best to try something, and I was in DRS range all the time, but there is nothing you can do.
"[Haas] were a second slower than the Ferraris. They were just lucky that they got in front of us. You can't overtake. Look at Hamilton and Vettel and the same story with Alonso. They were also much slower, but you can’t pass them. You try, but it doesn’t make any difference.
"Even if you are one-and-a-half seconds faster, it’s still not possible to overtake."
The FIA introduced a third DRS zone for the first time, but that failed to have an impact according to the Dutchman, who blames the cars.
"It is more down to the cars, because there used to be no problem with overtaking."
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