Verstappen, Russell, and Stroll think the F1 cars are too heavy
Formula 1 single-seaters have become increasingly heavier over the years. With the new regulations in place since this year, the F1 cars have gained 46 kilograms in weight, mainly due to new safety enhancements such as reinforced impact structures.
The new single-seaters are weighed at a minimum of 798 kg, without a full tank of fuel. With the full tank, estimated to be around 110 kilograms, the total weight reaches over 900 kg at each Grand Prix start. This is a figure quite distant from what F1 experienced in 2008 and 2013, where the single-seaters weighed 595 kg and 642 kg respectively.
This weight that keeps increasing is sparking more and more debate among the drivers on the grid, who lament the slow behavior of the new cars. In the columns of “Motorsport”, three drivers have expressed themselves on this matter: Max Verstappen, George Russell, and Lance Stroll.
The world champion declared that with the new regulations, he found the cars very heavy, but that there would be no solution to solve this problem quickly.
« Of course, the weight of cars is very high, which is not good, and I don’t see a short-term solution to this problem. But overall, the efforts that have been made to allow the single-seaters to follow each other is a real plus, much better than I had hoped for, it gives a better chance of racing. However, on certain circuits, it is still complicated to follow each other, and there are also issues with overheating tires, so there are other things to watch out for.
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Lance Stroll is much firmer on this matter and hopes that solutions will be implemented as quickly as possible to reduce the weight of the cars and make them more agile.
I think that cars have become too heavy, and I would like to see things change in the future. There are many things that can be changed to make it better in Formula 1, but the first thing that comes to mind would be to make cars more enjoyable to drive and more agile.
The Mercedes driver, George Russell, is of the same opinion as his two colleagues. However, he admits that with the introduction of new safety measures, it would be complicated to see significant reductions in the weight of the cars.
As Lance and Max explained, having lighter cars would be better, but you can’t have everything. The reason why cars are heavier is related to safety. It is difficult to choose between more comfort in driving or more safety, there are too many compromises.
Over the past few years, the FIA has evolved the regulations to ensure greater safety for the drivers. At the top of the list is the addition of the halo, which sparked a great deal of debate previously, but eventually was fully adopted by the drivers due to recent accidents.
