Max Verstappen does not agree with F1’s superlicense system, especially if it prevents a driver of Kimi Antonelli’s caliber from making his debut before he turns 18.
Antonelli, a Mercedes junior, was recently suspended after an unnamed team, believed to be Williams, applied to the FIA to allow the Italian to race before his 18th birthday. is the heading.
“This may prevent some talent from entering F1 right away.”
Antonelli, 17, achieved that milestone on Sunday at the Dutch Grand Prix, and if Williams were that team, they would immediately have a star driver as Logan Sargent struggles again. Dew.
However, in 2016, the FIA and F1 introduced a superlicense system, meaning Italian athletes cannot debut without FIA permission.
Not only do drivers need to earn 40 points before competing in a Grand Prix, but the minimum age is also set at 18 years old.
The rules came into effect after Verstappen made his debut at the age of 17 years and 166 days, with the Dutchman making the jump from European F3 to F1.
Verstappen scored points in his debut season, won a Grand Prix in his second year and now has three world titles under his belt.
He doesn’t agree with the system, especially if it prevents talented drivers from breaking into F1 early.
“Of course, that rule was introduced because of me,” Verstappen said, according to Motorsport.com. “At the end of the day, you can’t stop what it’s about.
“It’s not about him specifically, but this could prevent some talent from entering F1 right away, because they have to accumulate 40 points first.
“I’m not a big fan of this whole system. The FIA thinks it’s good, but I don’t want it.
“If a guy who is 17 or 18 years old and has maybe 20 points is very fast, why can’t he get into F1?”
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“That’s not going to happen.”
Antonelli’s F1 team boss Toto Wolff denied Mercedes had applied for a suspension, but insisted Antonelli would not race after Imola.
“Just 15 months ago he was in an F4 car,” Wolff said. “We have great faith in Kimi, his abilities and his future.
“But there is a trajectory that we need to follow diligently, rather than trying to dream of jumping from series to series in a way that is never beneficial to him.
“I don’t think the champions are going to be distracted by things like this. But at least it’s going to keep me distracted because everyone’s asking me, ‘How’s driving in Imola with you?’ I’m sure it will get lost.
“That won’t happen. This is not what Mercedes wants. These rumors have their own spin on them. Let’s do F2. As a team, we have other issues to solve. there are a lot of.”
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