Max Verstappen warns against tampering with F1 qualifying ahead of trial

F1 rules and regulations

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Verstappen warns against tampering with F1 qualifying ahead of trial

Changes will be made with the trial at Imola but the Dutchman does not like the proposals

Ewan Gale

Saturday 11 March 2023 12:28 Updated: 12:36

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Max Verstappen has warned F1 against tampering with its tried and tested qualifying structure.

The sport will trial a new format at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix aimed at improving sustainability, with it widely accepted that there should be no change to the show provided.

The change will see drivers obliged to use hard tyres in Q1, mediums in Q2 and softs in Q3, with the tyre allocations reduced from 13 sets to 11 across the weekend.

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Max Verstappen is doused in champagne after winning the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix

But warning cooler temperatures could lead to issues on harder compounds, two-time champion Verstappen said: "I hope it's not going to be cold in Imola, otherwise it's going to be quite tricky.

"It’s the same for everyone but I don't think we need to actually do these kinds of things in qualifying. I don't really see the benefit of it.

"It's better if we make sure that all the cars are close to each other and more competitive instead of spicing things up in that way, which I think is probably for the show."

Verstappen: We don't really need to change

The entire field was separated by just 1.5 seconds in Q1 at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix and Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez added: "I think we don't need that when you see the qualifying we had [in Bahrain], how close everything was, we do not really need to change anything.

"But we'll see, we'll see once we try it but I don't think there's a need to change something that is working well."