Verstappen's frustrations resolved? 'This is a good solution'
When starting a fast lap, drivers slow down in the pitlane or on the track to generate a good gap to the car ahead. It is a well-known problem in Formula 1. The Bahrain qualifying session also saw this phenomenon happen again.
It was seen several times in qualifying. These actions sometimes resulted in dangerous situations, where there was a long queue of drivers suddenly standing still in the middle of the track.
Standing still on the track causes many frustrations
We have heard drivers complain about it a lot and during qualifying in Bahrain it was no different. The FIA has already tested several solutions to this problem. For example, they were not allowed to stop in the pitlane, but then this problem shifted to the track. In Bahrain, queues of drivers in the pitlane arose. This caused frustration for Max Verstappen because he then had to almost stand still. This causes the car to overheat.
Still, the drivers are pleased with how the problem was handled this weekend, although of course there is always room for improvement. For example, Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen said the following about it: "Well, I think this is the safest way to go about it. I mean, it's probably not ideal, but I prefer that the cars are stopping in the pit lane than on the straight or in the last corner. So at the moment, this is, I think, the best solution. But we keep on trying to look at things to make it better."
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc fully agrees with the Dutchman. "Yes, I completely agree. I think the FIA came up with a new system yesterday, which I think wasn't exactly what we wanted. So we all asked to come back to the system of last year. So it's an ongoing process where we're trying to find the best system. But as Max said, I think you have to slow down at one point, and it's much better to do it in the pit lane than on the track. So I think it's the best solution we have at the moment". Mercedes driver George Russell also concurs. "Yes, I agree with you," he said.