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Max Verstappen wants a dictator in charge of F1!

Max Verstappen believes too much politics and self-interest from the teams have left F1 in a state of gridlock, the Dutchman suggesting the sport should be ruled by one commanding leader.

F1 is still searching for a consensus on the finalization of its 2021 regulations, and yesterday in Paris, the sport's chiefs, the FIA and the teams agreed on an extension of the June deadline for the publication of the rules to late October.

Verstappen believes the decision process would have been a lot faster if teams had less weight in the discussions, while the rules themselves would undergo more significant - and better - changes with less input from the teams.

"You know what it is, everyone's talking for themselves," said the Red Bull Racing driver.

"Mercedes is of course very happy with these regulations. In their view little needs to be changed.

"And teams who are not doing so well at the moment, they of course want different regulations, but then maybe they have a smaller say in this.

"If you have a Ferrari engine as a customer team, you are with Ferrari, and if you are a customer team at Mercedes, then you are with Mercedes.

"There is so much politics behind this. There should be just one person at the FOM or the FIA who says: 'OK guys, this is it'."

With all due respect to Max, a look at F1's recent history in terms of governance, when the sport was Bernie Ecclestone's one-man-act, suggests that a dictatorship didn't succeed in shaping Grand Prix racing as a fair and equitable battleground.

©RedBull

Verstappen also backs the idea, endorsed by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, that F1 should aim for more stable regulations rather than resort to regular tweaking in a bid to improve the show.

"One team will always do a better job with the rules than the others," he added.

"In the end, I think it's better if you keep the rules the same for a long period of time, because then everything comes together.

"At some point you just have to say: these are the rules and we will stick to these for the next ten years. And after five or six years you will see that it will be really close together.

"I also think that if we would have left the rules alone last year, with the front wings and all that, it would have been closer together now."

©RedBull

As far as the 21-year-old is concerned, tyres and downforce are the main areas that need significant reform in F1.

"The big problem we have as drivers is that we can't push when we're behind someone because the tyres get overheated, and you can't follow each other because there's too much downforce loss," said the five-time Grand Prix winner.

"In the end, those are the most important things we have to work on to make it better for the audience.

"It's just that on certain tracks you can go a second slower than you actually have to go, and still nobody will pass you because you just can't follow each other."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.

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