EXCLUSIVE: F1 record holder claims changes made things tougher for Verstappen

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Australia, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

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EXCLUSIVE: F1 record holder claims changes made things tougher for Verstappen

Have changes to Formula 1 over the years have made domination far more difficult than it used to be?

Jim Kimberley

Thursday 18 April 2024 18:57

GPFans sprak voor dit artikel exclusief met de betrokkenen

Max Verstappen's Formula 1 domination is incredibly impressive, but one F1 driver believes the Dutchman should receive more plaudits.

Even though F1 has always had periods when one driver or team excel far above all others, they believe complete control isn't as easy in the modern era.

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With so many changes to the sport over the decades, what has made it tougher for Verstappen to soar above the rest?

GPFans sat with F1 record holder Jan Lammers for an exclusive interview where the veteran driver detailed why his countryman excels.

Standard racing protocol

Lammers, the record holder for the longest gap between F1 rounds, was at Spain's Circuito de Jerez to manage his son, Ferrari Scouting Camp winner René Lammers, battle through a 38-car grid in Formula Winter Series.

He begins by saying, "All the cars here, 38, have a similar way of approaching testing, qualifying, practising starts. It's the shared protocol. Everybody goes for a track walk at the same time; it's busy.

"Everybody takes their private car on the track, everybody does the briefing the same way, the debriefing the same way, warming up the tyres the same way, the same moment that practice starts at the same time.

"So, everything is very broad because they obviously learn from each other...A lot of things are standardised and protocol, and to make the difference is very tough.

"I don't think it's particularly good or bad; it's just development, you know, and that's how it goes these days. The whole approach in soccer, in baseball, in basketball, whatever. That's how this development is.

"I like it because to be the best and to dominate is more difficult because you can't really make that difference because as soon as you do it, you show other people how to do it."

F1 data for everyone

It's a similar baseline approach for all drivers in the Formula 4-level series as it is in F1, and Lammers explained how things have changed since his F1 time in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s

"For example, data," he continues, "There are six guys here; they can see each other's data.

"So, if you do something very well, they all see what you do; they try to copy it, and then a week later, you have to try and do something else, and at some point, you're out of options.

"Even if you're a brilliant driver, every top driver in a team is a teacher for all the other drivers. Even Max [Verstappen] is educating other drivers.

"So, that is why it's a little more difficult to be that one that dominates and to have that edge. Even for Max, because people can record everything, analyse everything, [watch] onboard cameras, look at television output...

"You can watch a race of anybody behind the wheel, and then you see, the person or the technique, and you can hear his downshifts."

F1 has 'no bad teams'

The telemetry data available to drivers today wasn't available to Lammers during his F1 years, and he recalls, "In those days, you could be, 'Oh, why am I slower on straights?'

"And now, one engineer can tell his engine guy, 'Can you have a look at the Ferrari downshift? What's happening there? It sounds a little more this and that, and maybe their blip is whatever it is.'

"Details like that. You can see so many details. And that makes it difficult for a driver and a team to dominate.

"You see in Formula 1, the density of the competition - there are no bad teams anymore. The worst team in Formula 1 is still a very, very, very exceptionally good team. It's no fluke."

F1 Max Verstappen Formula 1 Jan Lammers