Max Verstappen continues to express concern over the direction the sport is heading, particularly in terms of active aero.

The three-time world champion has previously expressed his fears for the 2026 regulations overhaul, and these will not have been eased by the recent revelation, albeit by Red Bull, that early simulator tests with an active rear wing, which would alternate between high downforce through corners and low downforce on straights, has shown worrying issues in terms of the shift of aerodynamic performance, with cars spinning while accelerating in a straight line and extremely unstable in even the slightest of curves.

Consequently, the FIA is now looking at movable wings front and rear which would hopefully work in conjunction with one another and distribute the overall balance more evenly.

"I think we'll have to deal with some compromises on some tracks, you know, where you use a lot of energy per lap," says Verstappen, according to MotorsportWeek.com. "And of course, you know, with the potential like active aero and stuff...

"I'm not sure if we should head into that direction," he continues, "but that's what it's looking like at the moment. Hopefully, we can optimise all these kind of things.

"For me, it's more important to just try and fight the weight of the cars, try and optimise that instead of all these tools and tricks to try and help the overtaking or following. There must be different ways to be able to do it.

"I guess, also, with the engine regulation that they went into, they kind of need to do that to create the top speed and basically you know where the battery stops deploying and stuff. Some tracks will work a bit better some tracks probably it's a bit more on the edge.

"Of course, people will try to counter my arguments, but I guess we'll find out in '26, but also I'm not really thinking, of course, too much about it because we have a lot of work in the seasons up until '26. But we'll see if we can improve it a bit."

"I think it's all a consequence of the engine regulations," adds Carlos Sainz. "In the end, if you have a lot more energy requested from the electric powertrain, you're going to need to have, in a way, active aerodynamics to compensate.

"And that is where it all starts to get messy with the overtaking and the active aero and how you can do that to help the car to go quicker on the straight and spend less time full throttle."

However, the Spaniard admits that it is wrong to write-off the proposals before they have been seen in action - though, based on previous experience many will feel that by then it will be too late and once again vast amounts of money and time will have been spent on a 'solution' that fails to pay off.

"Until we try them, I think it's unfair to criticise or back the regulations," says Sainz. "At the same time, if it has attracted manufacturers, big manufacturers like Audi, into the sport, I think it's something that it has to be appreciated and put into context.

"My personal view is that these cars now are probably just too big and too heavy and if I would have to change something for tomorrow, it would be that.

"And then the suspension, I think the suspensions are becoming a big talking point in a lot of the tracks and how we brought them into some corners and how taxing it can be for the driver."

Indeed, Sainz believes that if the sport is seriously considering active aero then now is the time to bring back active suspension.

"If we are going to have active aero, why not active suspension to protect the backs of the drivers and to protect our own health and the safety of certain tracks?" he said. "It's clear that right now we are asking way too many things to the tracks and to the circuits, to the organisations, to change many small bumps that before we wouldn't even feel with the '21 car, and now we just can spin or have a pretty big accident because of those situations.

"So if I would have to ask or add one thing for the '26 would be something to protect us a bit on that front."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by ffracer, 19/04/2024 6:01

"@spindoctor: thanks for acknowledging my mere 2 pence lol, a true compliment considering all the usual suspects lol ( the extremely knowledgeable F1 fanatics) that post here, and amazed to be acknowledged by the super hero crime reporter (exposing the creative business of F1 lol) Chris Balfe and Max Noble: surreal.

Active suspension: Satan's mistress of driver aids. You raised a valid point about how we can't unlearn technology but history has proven that the world doesn't unlearn diabolical inventions, they agree to ban for the greater good lol. In this case, for the good of the sport.

Seriously, the plight of this sport that we all genuinely love is truly troubling lately. All these latest gimmicks and, with the threat of more, it will be very difficult to embrace.

Adrian Newey: arguably one of the greatest designers of all time, a sacred member of the holy trinity of designing Gods for me (next to the late greats Colin Chapman and Mauro Forghieri), an absolute weapon of desire. To be able to say that you have Adrian Newey on your team is the dream of Gods. "

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2. Posted by Spindoctor, 18/04/2024 13:39

"@ffracer - I take your point, but looking at things as per your reply means almost anything could be considered a "driver aid". Adrian Newey most certainly is!"

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3. Posted by ffracer, 17/04/2024 18:08

"@spindoctor:

Active suspension not a driver aid?

I can appreciate the concern for the driver’s health but we need to come up with something better... than active suspension. If the sole end result of active suspension is to create a constant/consistent ride height like a magnetic monorail or a air ride hovercraft system, that would be great... but it’s not. In short, active suspension can be manipulated - compression and rebound inputs/settings, well documented to benefit the driver style or situation (qualifying) -by the individual teams, therefore to gain an unfair advantage. I believe that this “evil“ capability would make it an unfair driver aid.
"

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4. Posted by kenji, 17/04/2024 0:59

"@ Superbird....Definitely not! Far too simple and inexpensive."

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5. Posted by Superbird70, 16/04/2024 11:01

"Can't we just have an updated version of a Lotus 78 type car? Fixed single element front and rear wings. Update the power unit, give them active suspension as previously noted. Would it be too much to ask?"

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6. Posted by Spindoctor, 16/04/2024 9:43

""... why not active suspension to protect the backs of the drivers and to protect our own health and the safety of certain tracks?" - VMax

Spot on from Max. Managing set-up of the current cars seems problematic enough. Ride-height (or lack thereof) is absolutely critical for Ground Effect & stopping the bouncing & grounding of cars should be a primary goal of the next generation. Active aero is likely only to exacerbate these issues. Controlling active wings so that they don't interact negatively with the floors etc. is likely to prove very difficult & involve hyper-complex electronics. The wind-tunnel & CFD time\costs will probably be exorbitant too given how all these aero bits are going to be interacting.

I realise many people consider active suspension to be some kind of Driver Aid, but in reality its not its just the simplest & cheapest solution to eliminating the most damaging aspects of ground effect cars. It's not a panacea for all the other ills, but would at least sort that out."

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Verstappen dubious of active aero

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