Verstappen Doesn’t Want F1 To Treat Wet Conditions The Same Way NASCAR Does

Posted on August 8, 2023 | by Charley Williams F1 has experienced a fair bit of rain throughout the first half of this season, be that during a practice session or in the race itself (although there hasn’t been a great deal in the races), but Spa’s typically wet conditions had drivers concerned regarding the lack of visibility at this circuit in particular.  At the beginning of July, the racing community mourned the death of Formula Regional driver Dylan van ‘t Hoff, who passed away following a crash during a wet race at Spa-Francorchamps. Though Lance Stroll called for immediate change to the circuit itself, many drivers said their main issue with driving in rainy conditions is the lack of visibility from the spray and how it seems to have worsened over the years. The FIA is trying to find a solution for the spray and recently tested ‘spray guards’ as a bolt-on component to aid visibility, but the process is a long one to develop a solution that really works. Max Verstappen is concerned of F1’s approach becoming like NASCAR’s – it tends to avoid driving in the rain on high-speed ovals, though it has started experimenting with wet weather oval tyres in damper conditions. “It’s very difficult to solve these things. You will always suffer from it, and you will always have spray,” said Verstappen, as quoted by Motorsport.com. “Wheel covers on a Formula 1 car won’t make a big difference, the safety car also gave too much spray towards me. On the motorway, you actually have the same problem.” He continued: “It’s always been like that. Just ask the older drivers in F1, too, they didn’t see anything either. Of course, certain accidents happen that have a bad outcome, and then people naturally start to talk about it more. “But if you look at it that way, you can’t really race in the rain anymore because there will always be problems with visibility. That would be a shame. Then it becomes like NASCAR, they don’t drive in the rain either!” Do you think F1 has become too cautious about racing in the rain?