F1 News: Max Verstappen Slams Recent Car Design -"The Worst Experience"

"End up on the other side of the track"

2022 F1 driver's champion, Max Verstappen, has claimed he does not think street races should be included in the F1 calendar, branding them "the worst experience" for the drivers.

With there now being 23 confirmed races for the upcoming season, which might increase to 24 if the cancelled Chinese Grand Prix is replaced, there are now more street races with the addition of the Las Vegas GP. 

Although Verstappen is not a fan of the street circuits he has proven this doesn't hold him back. During the 2022 season he took the victories at both Miami and Abu Dhabi. The Belgain-Dutch driver spoke about the Monaco Grand Prix, which has become controversial with many believing that Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez crashed on purpose during qualifying to start ahead of him. He explained to ViaPlay:

"It is very tricky, especially in [Monaco] qualifying when you go to the limit, it's really tough to nail a lap."

Verstappen went on to explain that it is the additional weight of the latest F1 cars that makes the street circuits more challenging for the drivers. He continued: 

"Now with the new cars, driving on a street circuit is the worst experience ever. It's just because they're way too heavy, too stiff.

"I was driving in Singapore - and I love Singapore, it's a really amazing track - and I was really disappointed just with the how the cars are behaving, compared to like 2015, 2016 where it's a little bit more agile and you can ride the kerbs.

"Now the cars are so stiff [that] as soon as you touch the kerb you almost end up on the other side of the track."

The two-time champion backed the long-term "classic" courses, adding:

"I'm personally more about high-speed corners, for me Spa 100% [should never leave the calendar], because that's really where you can make a big difference as a driver."

Max has plenty of experience behind the wheel of F1 cars with him being the youngest driver to ever compete when he joined the sport at 17. Verstappen also has one of the greatest car collections of his peers so has more than enough experience both on and off the track to make such huge statements on current F1 cars.