Max Ferstappen in an interview de Telegraaf reasoned about problems with overtakers and about the idea of spending sprint races to make a weekend more spectacular.
Max Ferstappen: "Modern machines have become too wide, so when you pursue a rival, there are not many trajectories for overtaking. In addition, being close after another machine, we lose a lot of clamping strength, and the balance of your car deteriorates. I was recently caught on Youtube video of 2016 - I was amazed how much struggle was on the track at that time. I do not remember this at all. In addition, in those times the car was much already.
I really liked the cars of 2004-2008, and most of all - 2006-2007. I'm not talking about some particular team, but in general. Then they looked great and were much more compact, it is already easier than now. As a result of the race, it turned out a spectacular, because the track was much more struggle. In this regard, wide cars are not very good. They have better clutch, but the question is what is more important? I like the rider when the car keeps the track well, but the fans are more important to the struggle.
The best teams work the smartest engineers. They always come up with something, which gives an advantage over the rest. And other teams need for several years to reduce the backlog. This is another problem. If you retain a stable regulation for a long time, then the separations between the commands will automatically reduce. But this will not happen if the rules change every four or five years.
Now a very difficult regulation on engines, and other motorists do not want to contact it. In addition, the cost of the motor is too high, and in Formula 1 they want to reduce it. If everything works out, there will be many interested automakers, then you can change anything else. Next year, on the new generation machines, we will ride much slower, but I think their width remains a problem.
Of course, on some autodromes it is easier to overtake than others. Last year we performed on the tracks of the old school like Imola, Mugello and Nürburgring. It was amazing. I was surprised by the number of overtaking in Mugello. In addition, I liked Macau when I performed there in Formula 3 in 2014.
If it is difficult to overtake on the track, then you need to try alternative options - try to get ahead of the opponent at the expense of well-thought-out time pit-stop. In 2016, it was possible to overtake on the track, now it is also sometimes possible, but it has become much more difficult.
As for the sprint races, the fastest cars will still remain ahead, so nothing will change. I don't care how many races will be along the weekend, but I like it much more when there is one long race. If you create good machines to make it easier to pursue rivals and overtake them, you do not have to change anything.
But I think that with the idea of spinning races is connected more than just the desire to make the struggle more interesting. In Formula 1, they want to be more events in the days of the racing weekend. Now on Fridays and Saturdays it is boring until the qualifications begin. In Formula 1, they want to attract more spectators on the tracks and earn more money. In the end, the whole thing in this. And I also understand this. "
Source: Formula 1 on F1news.ru