With the “show” that the Australian Grand Prix provided yesterday, not only fans but each member of the Formula One team are pretty convinced that FIA prefers “entertainment” over the safety of the drivers. The motorsport’s governing body got backlashes from the reigning world champion, Max Verstappen, to the Haas driver Kevin Magnussen. From Mercedes to Red Bull to MacLaren, each one of the bosses and drivers criticized the management for making such decisions that caused red-flag periods and grid restarts.
FIA received thousands of negative comments and reviews from all over the world after allowing two laps-to-go grid restart last day in Melbourne. However, this is not the only inappropriate action taken by the governing body. The increasing number of races and sprints and the sudden change in the formats of the qualifying gives reasons to Max Verstappen to end his F1 career soon.
Speaking with the De Telegraaf, Max Verstappen suggested, “this [the constant inconvenient decisions of FIA] is something that helps in my decision to quit F1 after 2028.” So, if Max, as he already said that he is not interested in driving being old, leaves F1 at a very young age, the credit for that might go to the lowering quality of FIA’s decisions. This is not going to end with the passing races, “it is going to degenerate into BIG DISCUSSIONS,” said another f1 driver from the team Haas, Nico Hulkenberg.
The Rights Holders Rubbed Hands While Formula One Turned Into A Carnage Show
We also got comments from other members of the Paddock. Including Toto Wolff & George Russell from Mercedes and Helmut Marko from Red Bull. Valtteri Bottas, Lando Norris, and a lot of famous journalists emerged to criticize the “entertainment” preference of FIA over the moral of the sport.
For a fan who watches Formula One racing to get entertained, what happens nowadays is understandable. They will like this show. But this American style of entertainment that FIA has adopted is very frustrating for others who are actually involved in the sports risking their lives. Andreas Haupt from Auto motor und Sports claims, “the rights holders were rubbing their hands” when the show turned into carnage. Given this, now a question arises. “Does FIA give more priority to the entertainment stuff over the sport?” You must find the answer yourself.
The Safety Cars In Australia Was Totally Unnecessary, Says All F1 Drivers And Principal.
No one is against the entertaining factor of Formula One. No one is saying to ban restarts, “they are great. And I am generally in favor of it,” says Toto Wolff. But, what causes the red flags, and safety cars, what exactly interrupts a race, should be determined.
Now that the slow safety cars are causing the tyres to get cooled down, it becomes too dangerous for the drivers. Sergio Perez, Red Bull’s second lead driver, suffered in Melbourne. Due to the set of new tyres his RB19 was running on. While the other drivers were on the used tyres with different compounds. When the safety car emerged, it was moving “very, very slowly. However, “it was not necessary at all.” said the chief advisor of Red Bull, Helmut Marko.
In addition, George Russell, who is also the Grand Prix Driver’s Association director, agreed with what just Helmut said. “It was unnecessary,” he commented. Bottas can clearly see that the two remaining laps were supposed to create a big mess. What was the purpose of the consecutive Red Flags?
Lando Norris answers: “Just to create a show.”
Well, the show must be created. But, “it certainly means not to put your rational thoughts over it,” said Peter Kohl, a journalist from Sky Sports.
