Motorsport News

F1 champion Max Verstappen wants improvements to F1’s ‘turtle’ safety car

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff labels Michael Masi 'disrespectful' and a 'liability'

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has likened Formula One’s Aston Martin safety car to a turtle, saying it was going too slow during its deployment at the Australian Grand Prix.

Formula One has two safety cars which alternate at races, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage and a Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series.

The Aston Martin car produces 528 brake horsepower compared to the 730 brake horsepower of the Mercedes car.

While a Formula One race is neutralised behind a safety car, drivers still have to keep their tyre temperatures at an optimal level in order to have enough grip at the restart which follows. Drivers often weave their cars from side to side during these points of a race to get heat into the tyres.

Verstappen said the Aston Martin safety car is not fast enough for drivers to do warm them effectively.

“There’s so little grip and also the safety car was driving so slow, it was like a turtle. Unbelievable,” Verstappen said after the race.

“To drive 140 [km/h] on the back straight, there…

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