Max Verstappen has addressed last week’s comments that Formula 1‘s new cars were similar to “Formula E on steroids”.
The Dutchman made the remarks during the first week of pre-season testing in Bahrain, when he was asked what he thought of the new cars, as part of the technical regulations reset.
Verstappen therefore made waves across both F1 and FE paddocks, the latter being in Jeddah for its fourth and fifth rounds of the all-electric championship.
It was another example of the four-time World Champion inadvertently polarising opinion, and becoming the story, or at least part of it.
Speaking in Bahrain on the second week of testing, Verstappen defended the making of the remarks, telling media including Motorsport Week that he was merely “sharing my opinion,” adding: “So I think we live in a free world, free speech, and that’s what I felt.
“Not everyone needs to feel like that, but that’s how I felt. And then it also doesn’t matter, of course, what other people have to say about that. I got a question and I shared my opinion.
“I think that I’m allowed to do.
“So it’s not about receiving pushback or whatever, I was just being honest.”
‘Let them be Formula E – we should stay Formula 1’
Verstappen was asked whether that the further electrification of F1 will signal a shift from some Formula E drivers, who then may switch to F1.
“Well, let’s hope not,” he said, explaining that he would not like to see F1 align itself too closely to Formula E.
“Not about the drivers, because there are a lot of good drivers that would be able to perform really well here, but I don’t want us to be close to Formula E.
“I want us to actually stay away from that and be Formula 1.
“So don’t increase the battery, actually get rid of that and focus on a nice engine and have Formula E as Formula E, because that’s what they are about.
“I’m sure that with the new car, from what I’ve seen and talked to some of my friends in there, that’s going to be also a really cool car.
“But let them be Formula E. We should stay Formula 1 and let’s try not to mix that.”
It would be fair to say that anyone who felt that Verstappen was taking aim at Formula E would have been wide of the mark.
A friend of a number of drivers and someone who has a good relationship with its CEO Jeff Dodds, Verstappen clearly recognises FE’s relevance and place in the world.
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