Ahead of Australian GP, Max Verstappen says technical changes are complicated

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen has again taken aim at F1’s new technical regulations ahead of the new season, calling them “pretty complicated” and that “it’s a bit late” for last-minute rule tweaks.

F1 heads into a new era this year, starting Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix, with unprecedented changes. Verstappen has been the most outspoken against the change so far, calling the new cars “anti-racing” and “Formula E on steroids” during testing.

But at Melbourne’s Albert Park, Verstappen said there was simply no point for the sport to try and regulate against the myriad of unknowns, which includes the start on Sunday, when it is expected that some drivers will have to rev their engines for around 10 seconds to spool up their turbos before lights out.

“Yeah, a bit late with that, right,” Verstappen said.

“The amount of money that has been invested as well into these regulations, they will be around for a while. I mean, you could have seen this coming - and suddenly now things are raised.”

Verstappen, though, is thrilled with the initial performance of his Red Bull power unit on the squad’s debut as a power unit manufacturer, an endlessly complex task. Even if he’s none the wiser on his Red Bull team’s place in the pecking order - despite it expected to be amongst the top four with rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.

“I’m very happy with what we did in preseason,” he said.

“It’s been a really great and proud moment for everyone — how the whole project came together between the engine and the car. I was really positively surprised with how basically everything felt.”