Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez highlight major issue with F1 cars in new regulations

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez believe that following cars has become difficult in the 2023 Formula 1 cars. They believe shortening the DRS zone was not necessary for the Azerbaijan GP, which added to the overtaking issues in the race.

According to the Red Bull Racing drivers, the 2023 F1 cars tend to generate more downforce which makes cars behind them difficult to overtake. Adding to the overtaking problem, the shortened DRS did not help.

Asked by Sportskeeda about the shortened DRS and its effect on the race action in Azerbaijan, Perez said:

“I feel this year certainly has become a little bit harder, because they say that they're collecting the data from last year. But somehow, I feel these cars are generating a bit more downforce and by generating that little more downforce, the car behind struggles a little bit more to follow.”

He added:

“So in my opinion, it wasn’t the right thing to shorten up the DRS, because it's getting harder to overtake than last year already in itself so it's something we should review.”

Verstappen explained the situation stating that with the downforce levels increasing every year, sticking to the same rules or going back to the old track layout wouldn’t help. The Dutchman also felt the weight of the cars made overtaking difficult, which produced dull track action at the Azerbaijan GP.

Further adding to the answer by his Red Bull Racing teammate, Verstappen said:

“Yeah, like Checo said, I think the more downforce we generate - and that, of course, will always be every year - if you keep the rules the same it will be harder to pass. And I think also, because of the weight of the cars we have nowadays, because they're quite heavy, in the low speed it’s a bit harder to follow because as soon as you have a tiny moment with that weight, it becomes a bigger slide, it's harder on the tyres so you overheat the tyres more.”

He added:

“And also with these new type of cars, you have to run them super stiff whereas I remember like 2015 or ‘16, you could do it sometimes a few different lines, you could run a kerb because the cars were quite - well, not soft - but it's still a lot softer than what we run now. And you could do a few different kinds of techniques and lines but that is really, really hard nowadays because the cars just don't allow it.”

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Max Verstappen feels the RB19 needs to be fine-tuned further

Max Verstappen explained on his radio about the differential and engine braking issues as one of the things that need fine-tuning on the RB19.

Verstappen highlighted some of the balance issues that need to be sorted on their car, which were prominent on the street circuit. He also mentioned that he was operating certain elements on the car differently compared to his Perez.

Explaining his radio message during the Azerbaijan GP, the Dutchman said:

“They were not issues. There was not a problem with it. I'm probably operating them a bit differently to Checo. And like I said, maybe I'm not using the correct settings with these new tyres and probably it was a little bit more highlighted on a street circuit where there's a lot of confidence needed on entry to mid-corner and that balance really needs to be as close to perfection basically. So yeah, I was just struggling a lot with that today at the beginning and then I was trying a few things.”

He added:

“Sometimes, of course I didn't get it right but then towards the end I think I found - let's say - the right settings from entry- to mid- to exit and also the team was helping me a bit and I had a few questions. So a few things to review for the upcoming races, what we can do better operationally, but again, sometimes you have weekends where you don't need to touch the car, everything is perfect and it's a rocket ship and we still have a rocket ship but still to fine tune basically so far this year, I think.”

Terming the car as a ‘rocket ship’, Verstappen said that the RB19 needed further tweaks for it to perform more to his liking. The reigning two-time world champion claimed he did not have the right settings while approaching the corners, which will need to be reviewed over the next few races.