Lando Norris has been one of the most outspoken critics of the new Formula 1 cars, saying that they had gone from "the best cars ever made in Formula 1 and the nicest to drive to probably the worst", one day before the Australian Grand Prix last Sunday. The hybrid energy source (50/50 fuel and electric) and the new "Overtake" mode which give the cars small speeds boosts, something Charles Leclerc compared to the mushrooms in Mario Kart.
After the race in Melbourne on Sunday, in which he finished fifth, Norris stood by his opinion, saying the race had "way too much chaos", and thinks there may be a big accident: "We're the ones just waiting for something to happen and something to go quite horribly wrong" (via Motorsport).
Norris predicted that the speed boosts will have the drivers "yo-yoing" more often, and it was proved right when it was reported that there were 125 overtakes in total this year at the Australian GP, compared to 45 last year. "Just depending on what people do, you can have 30, 40, 50 kph speed", referring to the speed differential between cars. "When someone hits someone at that speed, you're going to fly and you're going to go over the fence and you're going to do a lot of damage to yourself and maybe to others. That's a pretty horrible thing to think about".
For Norris, that type of racing is "artificial, depending on what the power unit decides to do and randomly does at times. You just get overtaken by five cars or you can just do nothing about it sometimes. There's nothing we can change about it, so there's no point in saying any more,", added the defending world champion.