Max Verstappen is poised to 'break' new rules set at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday - and has explained his stance.
The four-time world champion has returned to form in excellent fashion of late, consecutively winning both the Italian and Azerbaijan Grand Prix events to prove he hasn't lost his winning touch despite McLaren dominating 2025 with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Verstappen is hoping to make it a third victory in a row at the Marina Bay Street circuit but will do so by not fully complying with 'new heat hazard rules' introduced for the race.
With incredibly high temperatures of 31 degrees celcius and humidity, the FIA triggered a never-before-seen rule and released an official statement.
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Following on from George Russell and Lewis Hamilton suffering from 'borderline heatstroke' after last year's race, an FIA statement read: "In accordance with Article 26.19 of the Sporting Regulations, having received a forecast from the Official Weather Service predicting that the Heat Index will be greater than 31.0°C at some time during the race at this event, a Heat Hazard is declared."
As part of the rules, teams are required to fit cooling devices to cars. There is also the addition of new wearable cooling vest, which features cooled liquid that is pumped around a number of tubes.
Max Verstappen responds to FIA
It was previously expected that the vests would be mandatory but complaints were raised by drivers, leading to it becoming a voluntary element.
And though Russell will wear it as he did in Bahrain and in Saudi, Verstappen is not in favour of the design and believes all drivers should have the right to make a call on the vest.
"I feel like this needs to be a driver choice,” he said, as per racefans.
“Of course, from the FIA’s side, they will always throw it on safety.
“But then we can talk about a lot of stuff that can be improved on safety — including pit entries in certain places. I think that has a bit more priority than a vest in the car because I don’t like it.”
He continued: “I don’t like the tubes that are on your body with the belts that go next to you. They can say it’s a bad design, I disagree, it just needs to be an option for the drivers to choose. Some like it, some don’t, and that’s fine. It should be a personal preference.
“I know this year we can [choose] but probably next year they don’t want to do that, and I feel that is not the right thing
"The problem is that in GT cars or any other cars, prototypes, you have a bit more space to put stuff or at least put the cables. In our cockpits, it’s so narrow there is not enough space and that is also a little bit of a problem.
“Plus, where are you going to put the dry ice? The cars are not designed really to have this extra kind of space, and within 15, 20 laps, it’s anyway gone, and then you have hot water.”
Because he does not intend on wearing the vest, Verstappen has to have a disadvantage in line with FIA rules.
The Dutchman, or any other driver who elects against the vest, must add 0.5kg of ballast - extra weight - to their cockpit.
While it is expected to be made mandatory in the 2026 season, FIA single seat director Nikolas Tombazis has confirmed it could still be voluntary with discussions with the GDPA (Grand Prix Drivers' Association) pencilled in.
He confirmed: “We are open to the idea of potentially making it voluntary for next year, not mandatory, but we want to do that once we have discussed with the GPDA.”
Topics: Max Verstappen, Formula 1
Josh Lawless