The generational divide that Formula 1 needs to decide on

When a Formula 1 world championship is as closely fought as it was between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen this year, it is inevitable that the fans in both camps will not see eye-to-eye on a number of matters.

But the scale of the divide between the two opposing sides this year was perhaps exacerbated by the very different approaches that the pair appeared to have about the rules of racing. Here were two drivers from different generations, who were going into battle without total consensus about what is and isn’t allowed.

On the one hand was the super aggressive Verstappen. He is a driver not afraid to stick his nose in where few others would perhaps dare; and who is willing to use every inch of track (and even more) in his defence or pursuit of victory. Those characteristics very much form a backbone of what makes him such a force on track.

Against him, was the more experienced Hamilton, a driver who is at the stage of his career where he approaches things from a much bigger picture perspective. Wily at times, as Red Bull suggested? Almost certainly. But he equally was open at the end of the year about the value he placed on being viewed as the most ‘purest’ of drivers.

The differences between them led some to wrongly suggest that this was a battle of clean driver versus dirty driver, ‘Mad Max’ versus ‘Pure Lewis’. But to do so was to oversimplify things, for this is a much more complex scenario than it being a clear right and wrong approach – which was especially unfair on Verstappen.

Sure, he took things to the limit. But first it’s his job to do that, and secondly, it is important to understand why he has an alternative way of doing things.

Verstappen's bold lunge on Hamilton and Ocon at the third Jeddah start got him the lead

Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images

Certainly the generational divide between the two drivers matters. Hamilton learned his craft in a Formula 1 where small run offs, grass lined circuits, gravel traps and an increased sense of danger proved to set their own natural catalysts for what drivers felt was right and wrong when it came to fighting for position.

Verstappen, on the other hand, is of the generation who has arrived to a newer ultra-safe F1 – where HANS and the Halo mean drivers like Romain Grosjean are alive today after serious accidents that may not have been survivable in previous decades.

"The tracks the drivers today have grown up on, they all have the big run-off areas, whereas when I started in cars, most of the tracks hadn’t got to that point" Lewis Hamilton

They know only of an F1 of wide open asphalt run offs, of specific white lines and race note explanations that define track limits, and where banging wheels is not necessarily frowned upon. This generation have about them elements of a sim-racing mentality too – no doubt forged by their hours of competing online.

There, limits are defined not by a gentleman’s code of conduct, but of what the system says is and is not allowed. If kerb jumping is permitted by the algorithm, if there is no penalty for pushing your rival out wide on the exit of a corner, then that is allowed. The mentality is that the rules dictate the behaviour.

Thrown together, these factors have forged a different perception in the approach to racing in F1. It is something Hamilton himself remarked upon before the end of the season when he discussed going wheel-to-wheel against a younger driver like Verstappen.

“What I would say is the drivers today, the younger drivers, the tracks the drivers today have grown up on, they all have the big run-off areas, whereas when I started in cars, most of the tracks hadn’t got to that point,” he said.

“It was more fun, more risky and you had to drive more not going over the limit always. You had to really build up to it slowly, whereas their generation can go way over the limit and go wide and come back on track. There is less penalty to pay. That’s the only real difference. They seem super-driven.”

A right-front puncture during qualifying for the 2007 European Grand Prix resulted in one of the biggest accidents in Hamilton's career on the unforgiving Nurburgring

Photo by: Sutton Images

Just like finding track limits these days is all about going over them and then pulling yourself back, so too when it comes to racing conduct when fighting your rival, the behaviour is very much reliant on what the stewards say. For someone like Verstappen, it is not for Hamilton, nor other drivers, nor fans to decide what is right or wrong when it comes to how he behaves. The only valid opinions that count are those of the FIA.

Verstappen’s aggressiveness in his approach to racing – especially as we saw in Saudi Arabia – is not the result of him deliberately going out there to cause trouble. He drives that way because it is an approach previously tolerated by race control.

PLUS: The line Verstappen finally crossed in F1's first Jeddah race

As a driver who (quite rightly) pushes things to the absolute limit – as all those who want to be at the very top must – his attitude isn’t one that deliberately ignores the system in an act of defiance at the rule markers. Instead, it is a product of the system itself.

Had Verstappen’s actions at Turn 4 in Brazil been viewed dimly by the governing body, then so too would his behaviour change and he would adapt his approach accordingly. But when Brazil was given the green light by the FIA, why would that mean Verstappen felt the need to do anything different thereafter?

PLUS: The principles at stake in the Verstappen/Hamilton Turn 4 clash

And equally, if some of Verstappen’s moves had not been let go by the FIA in Saudi, would Hamilton have been so aggressive in taking such an extreme line at the final corner at one point that he forced his Red Bull rival out wide?

Verstappen being a driver whose behaviour is dictated by the rule makers explains a lot about why he was so annoyed at the end of the season by the lack of consistency from the governing body – especially when he saw other drivers getting away with stuff that he was punished for.

As the FIA begins its commission to look into the events of the Abu Dhabi safety car restart, it will also be taking a wider look at other key issues that F1 has faced over the past year. And part of this needs to be in coming up with some much firmer guidance in terms of the rules of racing, so all drivers go out there with a shared understanding of the code of conduct.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, battles with Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

The approach of F1 race director Michael Masi – in being open with interpretations and treating every incident on its own merits – has not served the series well in educating drivers and fans about what is and is not allowed.

It is time for a decision to be made. F1 can either go down the route of ‘let them race’, in which case drivers can push the boundaries, sort things out between themselves and have their behaviour dictated by stewards’ interpretations only in the most extreme of circumstances. Or it can go to the other extreme and impose some hard regulations that firmly lay out the behaviours that will and will not be tolerated.

Either option is acceptable. And certainly both the Verstappen and Hamilton generations would welcome the choice, especially if it was applied consistently. But right now, as F1 starts looking forward to another battle of the generations in 2022, it has found itself stuck somewhere between these two stances in a situation that helps nobody.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images