The new era of Formula 1 began this year, with a whole host of new regulations being introduced to the sport with the aim of making F1 more entertaining and more competitive.
The new design of the cars has made it much easier for drivers to closely follow each other in dirty air, while the budget cap introduced a year prior will prevent the top teams from financially blowing the likes of Williams and Haas out of the water.
It has been so far so good for the new regulations, with the likes of Ferrari and Alfa Romeo making massive strides forward at opposite ends of the championship, while racing on track has been as entertaining as ever.
Max Verstappen however has outlined some major issues with the new Formula 1 cars, claiming that they no longer suit some of the circuits on the calendar.
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“With the new cars, driving on a street circuit is one of the worst experiences ever. It’s just because they’re way too heavy, too stiff,” he claimed.
“It is very tricky, especially in [Monaco] qualifying when you go to the limit, it’s really tough to nail a lap.
“I was driving in Singapore – and I love Singapore, it’s a really amazing track – and I was really disappointed just with how the cars are behaving, compared to like 2015, 2016 where it’s a little more agile and you can ride the kerbs.
“Now the cars are so stiff [that] as soon as you touch the kerb you almost end up on the other side of the track.”
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The Dutchman may have a valid point about the difficulty of street circuits, as Verstappen cruised to a record shattering 15 race victories in 2022, but failed to win in either Monaco or Singapore.
It was his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez that crowned himself as the king of the street circuits in 2022, as Verstappen struggled to get to grips with the difficulty of these types of races under the new regulations.
There has been a lot of speculation in recent months whether the likes of Spa and Monaco could be replaced from the F1 calendar in the near future as they no longer suit the current era of F1, leaving those high up in the sport with the tough decision of keeping or removing an iconic and fan favourite track.