Rules discussion after Verstappen/Norris duel: 'As if we were driving as AI'
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- Corwin Kunst
The United States Grand Prix duel between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris remains a talking point in Mexico. The latter driver was penalised for overtaking the reigning world champion off-track, but the Dutchman himself also went beyond the white lines. How do the other Formula 1 drivers view the situation?
What drivers in Formula 1 want most of all is clarity. What is allowed and what is not? Verstappen was at the apex of the corner with his Red Bull nose in front and so the corner was his. At least, according to FIA regulations. The drivers are still not a big fan of this rule, because in this case Norris had zero chance of overtaking Verstappen around the outside.
"I feel like they are expecting us to drive like a machine, like AI, and try to follow every driving rules or whatever. In the end, we're doing racing. That's why people watch it," Tsunoda said ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix. "It's battling between drivers. It's passion, trying to fight each other's passion, right? And if they remove that, it's just going to be like AI fighting."
Magnussen points to IndyCar as example
Kevin Magnussen reveals that he is not very happy with the current rules. "Personally, I don't think it's great for racing right now. It's just very, sort of, restricted. It’s not ideal the way the way it's being done at the moment. I've said what I think, I don’t know whether that's going to make difference."
However, the Dane realises that it is also difficult for the FIA to come up with clear guidelines. "It's always hard if you always just try and listen to the drivers and do what they say, because whatever the FIA has ever done, drivers complain, because someone gets a penalty, and he doesn't agree, and he's going to try and influence in that direction. I think the FIA has to look at a way that looks good and maybe look at other race series. As I've said in the past, I think IndyCar works really well," he added.
He continued: "Having said that, they do run on very different tracks. They don't have, at all, this track limit situation. I think that helps them a lot. But even so, I think there's still things they can learn from there. You have to ask, do we want the drivers to race each other hard? I think so. That's my personal opinion, and they won't be if they are at such a high risk of getting a penalty whatever they do."
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton