F1: Regulations working perfectly – F1 competition fantastic

–by Mark Cipolloni–

The Formula 1 technical and financial regulations implemented by Liberty Media to bring the field closer together are working exactly as designed and the competition is fantastic.

Max Verstappen says it is “very confusing” to see the Formula 1 pecking order behind Red Bull change each race.

One race it is Aston Martin, then Mercedes, then Ferrari, then Mercedes and now even McLaren.

Because Max Verstappen is such a good driver and dominating upfront, it masks how close the competition is behind him.

And that is precisely what liberty Media intended when it forced an annual cost cap to be put in place, and drew up technical regulations that limited development time for the top teams.

Factors such as track characteristics, the rate and effectiveness of upgrades and strategy decisions have created a considerable variation in competitiveness from one weekend to the next because everyone behind Verstappen is so competitive.

In the post-race press conference Verstappen said, “It’s very confusing to me because every single race weekend, it’s someone else.

“I think it is because it’s so close behind that if you get your car in a little bit of a better window, it works on one particular track.

“So, for me, I don’t know what’s going to happen in Hungary [the next race] to be honest, who is going to be quick or the second-quickest.

“The stable factor so far is that every single weekend, it seems like we are on top, which of course is the most important from our side.

“But again, Hungary is a completely different track, we will put some upgrades on the car there and hopefully, they will work well.”