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4 Months After Max Verstappen’s Grave Threat, Moto GP’s Fabio Quartararo Supports F1’s Polarizing Decision

Published 08/05/2023, 8:45 AM EDT

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via Imago

The ever-changing and ever-evolving sport of F1 has seen plenty of changes in the current season. First, the sport introduced a revamped sprint weekend which gave the fans more racing action. Later, they also introduced some radical changes for the qualifying. These changes forced drivers like Max Verstappen to make big claims. Four months ago, he made a bold claim to threaten the sport for introducing a host of changes. However, the tensions subsided as the Dutchman continues his winning streak. Although apart from other F1 entities, the sport has received support for its decisions from Moto GP’s 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo.

Verstappen threatened to quit the sport a few months ago after the F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali revealed a host of changes in the works. Not all changes have been introduced so far except the two aforementioned. There are a lot of mixed opinions on the subject. Although looking from MotoGP’s perspective, as quoted by WTF1, Quartararo supported F1’s sprint weekend approach.

via Reuters

For context, the MotoGP’s hierarchy has introduced a sprint in all of the races of the season. So, opposing the MotoGP approach, Quartararo supported the F1 approach.

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“I feel like to have this kind of weekend we have to have [it for] four or five GPs. But for me, the schedule of last year was way better. So I think it’s silly to have it for all the races,” said Fabio. “Maybe in three years, we have it like this. But you cannot go from zero Sprint Races to 20 straight away. You have to be at 100% right from the beginning.”

Now, the Moto GP Frenchman’s comparison might be a little flawed because no teams have experienced a sprint race in all of the races. However, one can assume chaos will ensue if that does happen, something Verstappen is already the case.

Max Verstappen labels the sprint weekends as chaotic

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The Dutchman is on top of the F1 world with win after win. He has already one behind Sebastian Vettel‘s record of the longest winning streak and there is no doubt he will break it as well. Plenty of achievements for someone so young. However, Verstappen is old at heart as he wants to keep the sport the same and not see a lot of changes.

via Imago

In fact, he believes the revamped format is extremely chaotic. Speaking ahead of the Baku GP, he said “Because it’s a street circuit with long straights, it gives us several options in terms of wing settings. It’s also the first sprint race weekend of the season, so that might make things a bit chaotic. We just have to try to start the weekend well with a solid first free practice. Let’s see what we can achieve.”

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As things have progressed, one can see Verstappen is taking to the new format nicely and seems to be enjoying himself a little more. Let’s hope that continues as the sport inevitably evolves over the coming years.

WATCH THIS STORY | Will Max Verstappen Retire Early from F1?

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Written by:

Mahim Suhalka

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Mahim Suhalka is a senior F1 Author at EssentiallySports. Having written over 1000 articles, Mahim specializes in core sports coverage. Having followed the sport for a long time, his articles contain excellent analysis of the sport and he dives deeper into the technicalities of this complex sport.
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Edited by:

Aishwary Gaonkar