Valtteri Bottas is unhappy with a loophole in the Formula 1 rules that Max Verstappen uses to his advantage. Recently, Verstappen and Lando Norris had incidents at the United States and Mexican Grand Prix, with Verstappen getting a big penalty in Mexico for pushing Norris off the track.
Bottas, who won’t race in F1 after 2025, believes changes are needed to make racing better. He said, “There’s a bit of a loophole there that you can just attack to the apex and then deal with the rest. I think there’s some fine-tuning to do. But, obviously, some drivers are taking way more advantage of the guidelines than the others.”
Is Bottas Criticizing Verstappen’s Moves?
Bottas didn’t name names, but it seems like he’s talking about Verstappen. The Red Bull driver knows every detail of the rulebook and sometimes bends it to his will. Fans might think this is clever or unfair. In Austin, for example, when Norris went off track, he got penalized for track limits while Verstappen barely made the corner. Yet sometimes Verstappen oversteps, like during his clash with Norris in Mexico.
“I think this is unfair if the driver doesn’t make the corner,” Bottas said. “You should be always in control. It’s just not part of fair racing.” He added that respect among drivers is important and recent actions don’t show that respect.
What do you think about these racing tactics? Are they smart or just plain unfair?
