Verstappen wants good racing, not lap records

Jamie Woodhouse
Max-Verstappen-RB16-testing

Max-Verstappen-RB16-testing

The 2020 F1 cars are likely to set a host of new lap records, but Max Verstappen would prefer to see good racing.

Renault’s Esteban Ocon kicked off the debate when after his first day back in the series he predicted the lap records to fall at every circuit this season.

Valtteri Bottas only backed up that theory more when he set a time in the first week of pre-season testing which was only three-tenths slower than the lap record at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The issue with this though is that all the speed comes at the cost of overtaking – the cars are very dependent on downforce and so following another driver is very difficult.

And it’s better racing which Verstappen would prefer to see, though he probably will have to wait until next year under the new regulations for that.

“It’s great to do lap records but to be honest, I prefer good racing,” he is quoted by Crash.net.

“The cars are amazing to drive, they are super-fast, and for sure we will break some lap records.

“But when you are following a car it’s just impossible. There is such a big downforce loss and of course every year the cars are getting faster so it’s just getting worse and worse.

“So, definitely for next year I think the cars are not going to be enjoyable and easy to drive, but I just hope the racing will be better.”

Red Bull hope to provide Verstappen with an RB16 that can challenge for the World Championship, and the Dutchman said that already after just the first week of pre-season testing it’s feeling more “connected” than the 2019 version.

“I think overall it feels just a bit more connected,” he explained. “But that was also the target. There was no real surprise there.

“I think already towards the end of the season we were working towards that and already last year testing some ideas for this year. So, what we targeted already from the wind tunnel, once I jumped in the car it was fine.”

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