Max Verstappen ‘beyond frustrated’ at new era of F1....
"Verstappen has been arguably the most vocal, and certainly the most high-profile, critic of the new era of hybrid-electric power units, which require drivers to “harvest” energy by purposely slowing into corners, which they can then use to power past one another using “boost” and “overtake” buttons.
The two grands prix so far this year, in Australia and China, have featured hundreds of overtakes. But Verstappen has dismissed the stye of racing as akin to “Mario Kart” and described it as “Formula E on steroids”, saying anyone who enjoys it “does not understand racing”.
Verstappen is far from alone. Many fans, like him, are furious that drivers can no longer go flat-out in qualifying, having to lift and coast to harvest energy, even on push laps. Nor do they consider the overtaking to be real.
This year’s Japanese Grand Prix, meanwhile, has been controversial because the energy-starved engines cannot keep deploying full electric power for long enough on the longest Suzuka straights and the recharging demands mean “superclipping” – where the car harvests energy for its battery while still at full throttle – kicks in as well. This means speed reductions of up to 50kmh on high-speed corners such as 130R, one of the most iconic in the sport."
https://archive.ph/K16us
