Max Verstappen: F1 double-headers "fine" without gimmicks

Red Bull

F1 double-headers "fine" without gimmicks - Verstappen

Dutch driver claims reverse grids would have been "weird"

Sam Hall

Monday 13 July 2020 08:50

Max Verstappen claims the entertaining Austrian double-header proves Formula 1 has no need for reverse grids and gimmicks.

Ahead of the season-opening pair of races at the Red Bull Ring, concerns had been raised that the considerable amount of running, including eight hours of practice, would produce a pair of identical races.

These fears were alleviated largely thanks to the heavy rain that spiced up qualifying for the second of the two events, the Styrian Grand Prix.

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"It was fine," said Verstappen following his third-place finished behind a Mercedes one-two spearheaded by Lewis Hamilton.

"Mixing tyre compounds? Well, you can only really, on most of the tracks, go harder because they don’t allow you to go softer because then probably you end up blistering and stuff and you don’t want to go with even harder tyres so… I don’t know.

"I don’t really think there’s a lot of option to play with because simply I don’t think they allow us to use softer tyres for safety reasons."

Although Verstappen suggests it improbable a softer compound than usual could be run on venues hosting multiple races, Pirelli has confirmed the hardest compounds in its range will be used for the British Grand Prix, while for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, also at Silverstone, tyres one step softer will be used.

The Dutchman is at least also pleased reverse grids were not a feature of the opening two races, even if he would have been the beneficiary on this occasion.

"They stopped about the reverse grid," added Verstappen. "But yeah, it would have been a bit weird to know that if you retire in the first race as I had, then you start from pole in the second.

"I don’t know what you can do and I honestly think it’s fine. It’s more important that we are racing."

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