McLaren Team Principal Andreas Seidl has slammed Max Verstappen for his engine penalty idea.
Most teams haven’t taken too kindly to the new FIA regulations. They have either been calling it out, or offering alternatives to the proposed rules. Verstappen has joined this group, and he suggested an idea recently. According to him, teams should be allowed to install additional engine parts if the previous one was damaged through no fault of theirs.
Seidl took exception to the Dutchman’s statements. He slammed Verstappen for his engine penalty idea, and backed the FIA.
“Time and again we came to the conclusion that it is simply difficult to find out what damage caused by a crash is and what is not,” Seidl said, as reported by Motorsport-Total.
“I think from our point of view we’re happy with the rules. It’s part of the game.”
Although Red Bull and Ferrari have vehemently opposed the new budget cap regulations, Seidl and McLaren are happy to oblige.
“We had a lot of discussions when the budget limit was introduced, and no one ever talked about the budget limit should apply without accidents. It’s just part of the challenge we’re facing,” Seidl asserted.
Conflict of interest
Earlier, Verstappen had said that he felt teams affected by damages and crashed should be afforded some compensation in the form of additional engines. He said, “If someone crashes into you and you are damaged and the rules mean you have to use an additional engine, then that’s not how it should be. There should be a little more leeway.”
The teams’ respective bosses in Christian Horner and Mattia Binotto may disagree with Seidl. Perhaps that’s because they are yet to suffer the kind of damage Red Bull and Ferrari did this season.
Whatever it is, it is a never-ending debate. From the looks of it, it won’t be ending anytime soon.