Max Verstappen sends crash danger warning to FIA ahead of new F1 ban

Max Verstappen has warned the FIA that there will be ‘a lot of crashes’ when the sport bans tyre blankets. The Red Bull driver is one of many within the paddock concerned about the ban that will come into effect in 2024 while their use is to be reduced in the meantime, with tyres only allowed to be heated to 50 degrees next season, down from 70 degrees this year. Tyre blankets are fitted to the current spec of Pirelli rubber compounds to maintain them at a constant temperature before they are used. This means the tyres have an element of warmth when they are used, providing cars and drivers with more grip when they first used. However, the FIA plans to ban tyre blankets from 2024 and they have forced teams to reduce their use in the intervening period. Last season, front tyres could be maintained at 100 degrees while the rears were 80 although this fell to 70 for this year. The FIA plans to reduce temperatures to 50 degrees in 2023, something which was trialled during the United States Grand Prix weekend. However, the changes were not received too positively by drivers with many struggling to control their rear end, particularly McLaren star Lando Norris who narrowly avoided a smash with the pitlane. JUST IN: Max Verstappen has new Red Bull target but refuses to make change Max Verstappen has warned the FIA to expect more crashes (Image: GETTY)Now, Verstappen has hit out against the changes, warning the FIA that there will be more crashes as a result. “It was not enjoyable,’ the Red Bull man said of the American tyre test. “I drove on 50 degrees and I almost spun in the pit lane. I also had the hardest compound but I think there is a lot more to it.”If we have the tyre blankets anyway, why don’t we use them to the fullest because they are there. I would go full blankets or zero because we have them already, we don’t need to get new ones.”I think we will have a lot of crashes, that I know already.’ DON’T MISSMartin Brundle details private message from Brad Pitt after US GP snubLewis Hamilton ‘turns the tide’ on Russell to avoid Verstappen repeatMercedes’ controversial car change for Mexico GP despite legal doubts Max Verstappen is unhappy with the tyre blanket changes planned by the FIA (Image: GETTY)The Dutchman also harbours concerns that it could cause the grid to burn through more rubber as the tyre blanket modifications will cause big changes to degradation. “The tyre degradation is going to be completely different because your tyres are very cold,’ Verstappen explained. ‘You will be sliding around for the first few laps, your tyre pressures will go through the roof so your tyres will deg a lot more and at the moment, I don’t really enjoy it but a lot of drivers say the same. We need to find a solution to that.”Austin is still a track where you can easily warm the tyres because of the cornering but if we go to a street circuit, Monaco, can you imagine? I think it will take half of the race before you have temperature in your tyres.”