These F1 drivers back Verstappen amidst FIA Driving Guidelines row
F1 News
Max Verstappen has been vocal about it since the issue started to gain momentum in the F1 world, the Driving Guidelines are too complex, but less rules may also result in a different problem. A practical solution that may help matters almost instantly? Natural track limits. In the eve of the Qatar Grand Prix, both Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen said their piece to media present in Doha, including GPBlog, on the matter and both agreed with the four time World Champion.
It's been a recurring theme for years now, particularly so since Verstappen came to the fore with his daring and on the limit driving style: F1's Driving Guidelines are overly complex for the drivers, let alone the fans, to understand clearly. This has resulted in inconsistent rulings from the FIA Stewards at times, and many on track situations bringing about controversy amongst media and enthusiasts alike. This year has been particularly spicy given the many battles between Verstappen and his title rival, Lando Norris, which have resulted in incidents multiple times across the season.
In fact, it came to such a apoint that Qatar was the host of a meeting between the drivers and members of the governing body, the FIA, to work on fixes for the current driving guidelines. As of Monday, former Alpine racer, Ocon, had to say this on the matter: "Obviously it's good to have [a] conversation with how the rules are going to be going forward in terms of racing", opened the Frenchman, before stating views that are very similar to Verstappen's.
Are the tracks a part of the problem?
"The thing is there is always [an] interpretation and stuff like that when there is a clash and if you overtake, it's close, but nothing happens, and the tracks are the way they should be, with gravel and you can't go off track limits, normally there's no need to talk about it. It's proper fights and proper overtakes, so I understand it needs to be talked about but it's always difficult with what circumstances you are [in], what track it is".
For Ocon, in street tracks, the situation is much clearer, since the rule is often a hard wall. "I think we know what the rule is in some street circuits, you can't go past the wall and that's it, that's how it should be. [Be] free to race as long as you don't do silly mistakes, and as long as you don’t put the other guy in the wall".
Do the Guidelines really work across all situations, in all tracks?
When Magnussen was asked if there should even be racing guidelines at all, the dane replied: "It depends what they are. I think it's, at the moment, quite complicated and they're not being enforced in the right way because it's too complicated". However, he did not look to the governing body as the culprit for the situation. He instead, as Verstappen has done in the past, blamed the tracks.
"These guidelines are also made because of the tracks and then when you go to tracks like we've just been to in Las Vegas, where there is the natural track limits, then they don't work, because they're sort of designed for tracks that are open spaces on the outside". Curiously, Magnussen had been involved in an incident with Red Bull junior, Liam Lawson the week before when racing on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
"I had one [incident] with Lawson where I was clearly ahead of the apex and he just bumped me to the wall, so I'm gonna back off because otherwise I crash into the wall, but he did bump me, and so the guidelines say if you push him out of the track... Well he didn't push me out of the track. I backed off because otherwise I was in the wall. So then it doesn't work. These guidelines mean nothing in a track like this", concluded the soon to be former F1 driver.