You mention the danger and recently Niki Lauda said that this is an element that is missing from F1 today. It’s true that was one of the essential attractions of the sport for the spectators.
Danger is part of the sport and what you have to consider is that the modern carbon fibre chassis gives a relatively high standard of safety. If everything goes wrong, as was the case with [Jules] Bianchi, then it can still be very dangerous. But what I find so annoying like here (Red Bull Ring) and many other circuits is that you have so much run-off area that if a driver makes a mistake he is not penalised, apart from maybe losing one lap. You see drivers pushing so that every second lap they are over the limit and they are not punished. At least the car should get damaged. This element has to come back. Having cars that are so safe and so easy to drive with these enormous run-off areas, that’s not how motor racing should be.
It reminds me of another story: I was having a fight with Pedro Rodriguez at the Nurburgring in a 908: we were both driving off the track, we touched and ran side by side for a long time. These days we’d be banned for two or three years I think! We were pushing each other and it was over the limit but he knew what he was doing and so did I, as we drove wheel to wheel and the crowd was cheering. My paint didn’t make any marks on his “Gulf” coloured car!
I agree with Niki we need to go back in that direction. In Graz (the nearest city to the Red Bull Ring) there was a photo exhibition and it included a shot of the podium from the Hungarian GP Mansell had won and he could hardly stand up. They were all dripping in sweat and their eyes were out on stalks. You don’t see that after a race: [Max] Verstappen gets out of the car looking as though he’s just been for a nice walk.
That’s ridiculous. First you get a penalty for changing the engine, then an extra penalty because there aren’t enough cars on the grid for you to go far back enough
Then the sport is also over-regulated. Look here in Austria, the difficult thing to work out from qualifying will be who starts last, because we have penalties, McLaren has penalties and then also affecting your grid position is what time you notify the FIA you have made an engine change. That’s ridiculous. First you get a penalty for changing the engine, then an extra penalty because there aren’t enough cars on the grid for you to go far back enough. There is no common sense and no racing spirit, that’s what’s missing.
I think some of the cars will be starting from Vienna today. One last question. Do you find it very satisfying bringing the drivers from the Red Bull Junior programme into Formula 1?
Yes, it’s very stimulating and satisfying. When we won our first world championship with Vettel who came from the Junior Programme it was very satisfying. As for Verstappen, I had a long two hour chat with him when he was sixteen. I don't normally speak to the drivers for so long and I was really impressed. Then I saw him driving the Norisring in wet and changeable conditions and I rang them and said, “forget what we were talking about before, now we are talking about Formula 1.”
When you watched him qualify in Australia, going sideways in the quick corners without lifting! And we gave Sainz the chance too. He had his critics, but the decisions are taken in Salzburg, nowhere else.
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