F1 News: Max Verstappen Reveals "Party Mode" Frustration From Mercedes Era - "I Couldn’t Win”

Max Verstappen looks back at the days when Mercedes won several championships in a row and highlights how a certain 'party mode' distorted the competition.

Max Verstappen, who, alongside Red Bull, engaged in fierce competition with Mercedes since 2016, expressed his frustrations during the period of Mercedes' dominance, where securing race wins seemed unattainable. He also discussed the impact of the Brackley team's "party mode", which he believes distorted the genuine nature of racing.

Key Takeaways:

• Max Verstappen, having been in intense competition with Mercedes since 2016, expressed frustration during the period of Mercedes' dominance, where winning races seemed unattainable.
• Before 2020, Mercedes had a mode called 'party mode' for an extra performance boost during a single lap in qualifying, but Verstappen believed it was reserved for race days, impacting Red Bull's performance.
• Verstappen prefers Sundays, emphasizing the importance of scoring points, and expresses joy in the current position where he can compete and win, a dream he had during the frustrating Mercedes era.

Before 2020, when a rule was implemented to prohibit changes in engine modes during qualifying, Mercedes had nicknamed a mode in its car called 'party mode' for providing an additional performance boost if required during a single lap. 

However, Verstappen believed this configuration was saved for race days, resulting in Red Bull getting close to Mercedes in qualifying but falling behind on race days. When asked if he was the reason why he was a better racer than a qualifier, he told Motorsport-Magazin.com:

“That’s true, but I don’t think our car was that much faster in the race back then.

“Sometimes it looked like we were close in qualifying. But I think it’s always difficult to say because you never know how good the other guys’ laps were, and then it was also the case that one particular engine manufacturer had a party mode from 2014 to 2017 or 2018.

“If they wanted, they had more in their hands. So there was a bit of a distorted picture at that time. They did it very smartly, because why show everything when you’re winning anyway? Of course, there is a pole-to-win ratio… But I always see it like this: points are scored on Sunday. Saturdays are not so important.”

With Verstappen siding with Mercedes on the formula of reserving the performance for more points for Sundays, he added:

“I love Sunday more.

“I enjoy Sunday more – but if I have a good car on Saturday, I obviously also try to put it on pole.

“Sometimes it’s just the characteristics of the car or something like that. With less petrol, the cars are also closer together. This sometimes masks small weaknesses in the cars. There are many things behind it.”

Max Verstappen Living His Winning Dream

Mercedes secured eight consecutive Constructors’ Championship victories between 2014-21, and thus, made a prominent mark in Formula 1's history books. Revealing his frustration from the Mercedes era when winning was impossible, Verstappen said:

“I found it very frustrating back then when I couldn’t win.

“Because you have the feeling that you can do it – but you can’t show it.

“That’s why I’m very happy in the position I’m in now. This is what I dreamed of. I hoped it would turn out like this. Now that the situation has arrived, I’m obviously trying to make the most of it.”

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