Max Verstappen fumes at speed of ‘turtle’ Aston Martin safety car
‘It’s pretty terrible, the way we are driving behind the safety car at the moment’
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Your support makes all the difference.Max Verstappen complained that Formula 1’s safety car was “like a turtle” during the Australian Grand Prix after it caused Charles Leclerc to understeer at the final corner moments before the restart.
The mistake gave Verstappen the opportunity to snatch the lead from Leclerc but the Red Bull was unable to rival the Ferrari’s raw pace and the reigning world champion was later forced to retire from the race due to reliability issues with his car.
Asked about the restart, Verstappen criticised the speed of the Aston Martin Vantage safety car and said he preferred the Mercedes version.
“It’s just that there’s so little grip because the safety car was driving so slowly,” Verstappen told The Race. “It was like a turtle. Unbelievable. With that car, to drive 140km/h on the back straight where that was not a damaged car anymore, I don’t understand why we have to drive so slowly.
“We have to investigate. For sure the Mercedes safety car is faster because of the extra aero. The Aston Martin is really slow. It definitely needs more grip, because our tyres were stone cold.
“We went into the last corner and I could see Charles understeering, so I’m like ‘OK I’ll back off a bit more and get a better line’. But it’s pretty terrible, the way we are driving behind the safety car at the moment.”
F1’s safety car driver, Bernd Maylander, had previously praised the modified Aston Martin and said he was “blown away by how close it is to a thoroughbred race car”.
Leclerc, who extended his lead in the drivers’ standings to 34 points, also said he felt the safety car was too slow.
“To be honest it always feels too slow in the car because with those Formula 1 cars, we have so much grip and it’s very, very difficult, especially on the compound we were all on, which was the hards. I was struggling massively to put some temperature in them so I also struggled.
“Then, to be honest, I wanted to complain, but then I checked how much the safety car was sliding in the corner and I don’t think there was anything more that he could give so I didn’t want to push too much pressure on.
“It’s the way it is. But for sure with the cars that we have now, it’s very difficult to keep the temperature in the tyres behind the safety car.”
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