Will the FIA listen to F1 drivers over long-term health fears?

That was the view of a number of drivers who joined in a debate on the matter in Friday’s regular briefing in Azerbaijan.

Previously Carlos Sainz and George Russell had been the main voices warning of potential long-term neck and back issues, a legacy of the very obvious porpoising and bouncing issues that their cars have experienced this season. Most of their colleagues, essentially those whose cars were not suffering badly, had kept fairly quiet – at least in public.

After the first day’s running on the bumpy Baku track, many others were given a taster of what the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers have been dealing with all year. Suddenly the conversation involved more drivers, and many more opinions.

It was a little different back in Barcelona last month when Sainz gave an eloquent description of his concerns, and few of his colleagues showed much support.

“I’m already feeling it,” he said on the Thursday before his home race. “I don’t need expert advice to know that 10 years like this it’s going to be tough, and you’re going to need to work a lot in mobility, flexibility. I’m going to need to invest in health, overall body health.”

He also admitted that it was a difficult subject for F1 drivers to open up about: “It’s probably a question that I think as drivers we don’t like talking [about] much because we don’t like sounding, say, weak.

“I’m strong, I’m very fit, I consider myself one of the fittest drivers, and I’ve never struggled in an F1 race at all. But it’s more long term and for the benefit of all of us that maybe we should put it out there to talk about, and see what options do we have.”

Asked then if the FIA would have to get involved, he replied: “It will get to a point that when if we decide to go in certain directions the FIA needs to get involved for sure. Let’s see in the future.

“It’s still very early days. It was pretty much a thought that I’ve been having in the first five races, when I’ve been suffering with porpoising and this situation, that I’ve never ever really even brought up in a meeting yet.

“I was probably thinking out loud, and it’s something very, very young in my head, and I still need to maybe talk to other drivers that I know that have struggled, like George [Russell] or others, who are struggling with the same phenomenon. We need to pretty much sit together and see what we can offer or propose.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: FIA Pool

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