“That definitely needs to change,” Max Verstappen hits out against the unacceptable schedule

“That definitely needs to change,” Max Verstappen hits out against the unacceptable schedule

Max Verstappen

Red Bull driver and 2021 F1 world champion Max Verstappen has voiced his opinion on the change in the weekend schedule which saw F1 shifting Thursday’s press conference to Friday, before the first practice session. According to him, the new format, which has been introduced in 2022 with the intention of cutting down drivers’ time on the track, is instead causing them to spend more time on the track.

The drivers have to engage with media and team-partner events. And many of the drivers have expressed that their problem lies with answering the same questions 5-6 times a day, which understandably can be troubling and exhausting for anybody.

Max Verstappen, as quoted by The Race, said, “It’s more about how we’re doing the press conferences and the media activities. I think it was better before. Because now our Thursday is very long, which officially is not really a day anymore. But actually, for us it’s same amount or even more on a Thursday and even more now on a Friday, where you come in early.”

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Max Verstappen’s reasoning behind his criticism

Max Verstappen alongside Lewis Hamilton during a press conference
Max Verstappen alongside Lewis Hamilton during a press conference

While Thursday no longer counts as a part of the official racing weekend, the drivers have to engage with several media houses and an official F1 press conference on Friday morning before practice. The Dutch driver believes that as the calendar is expanding, so are their weekends due to this scheduling.

He said, “Coming in early is not a problem, but your whole day is longer. So, going to more races, you would like to have a shorter weekend. But actually, now with more races, we’re also having longer weekends. Or at least more days that we are actually at the track and doing stuff. That definitely needs to change.”

Going into the Imola GP, Max Verstappen will try to put up heavy resistance to Charles Leclerc. While issues with Max’s PU seems to have been resolved, it remains to be seen if the Dutch can finish the race or not.

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