Mercedes driver George Russell said last week that the drivers had fed into discussions with the FIA and “had two headline points – flat-out qualifying, so no lift and coast, and then reducing the closing speeds”.
Verstappen’s concerns centre on the new power-units introduced this year, and the degree of energy management required.
The engines have a near 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power. This, as well as a series of complex regulatory constraints, has introduced a new form of driving and racing.
Verstappen does not enjoy either of the two main changes – qualifying laps are no longer on the limit at all times, in the traditional sense, because of the need to recharge the battery; and racing is being affected by the large variations in battery charge level and the new “overtaking” and “boost” modes – all of which leads to huge speed differentials between cars.
Wolff said: “I am carefully optimistic that we’re going to improve the racing, while keeping the racing really good.
“If you have aligned objectives, and you define those objectives at the beginning, and that is, how can we work on making qualifying more spectacular, enjoyable for the drivers? How can we tackle safety objectives? And at the same time, protect what’s really good within the racing, the overtaking. And that’s why those steps look like they are in the right direction.
“Not overshooting, not undershooting, but if you come to the conclusion further down the line, that we need to maybe redefine the objectives, then so be it. But at the moment, I think that’s carved out in a pretty clear way, and that’s good.”
It is expected that one of the changes that will be introduced before the next race in Miami on 1-3 May will be to remove a lower limit at which teams can recharge their batteries while at full throttle.
At the moment, this is set at 250kW, rather than the maximum recharge limit of 350kW which can be applied when a driver has lifted off the throttle and/or is braking.
Having the lower limit means drivers are forced to do more ‘lift and coast’ – when they lift off the accelerator and let the car run before braking for a corner.