"Doesn't help"

Verstappen finds mandatory cooling vest “ridiculous”!

Max Verstappen is not enthusiastic about cooling vests ...(Bild: AFP/APA/Giuseppe CACACE)

Formula 1 has once again declared a heat emergency - after the sauna in Singapore, everyone involved in the race in Austin, Texas, has to brace themselves for temperatures of more than 31 degrees! And just like two weeks ago at the night race in the Asian city-state, this also has consequences at the "Circuit of The Americas". Because the drivers are allowed to wear cooling vests in the car - world champion Max Verstappen is admittedly not enthusiastic about these aids ...

"I don't particularly suffer from the heat," Verstappen emphasized in Singapore. A little sweating is completely okay for him. "After 15 to 20 minutes, the vest itself gets hot - it doesn't help at all."

Cooling vest requirement "completely ridiculous"
The 28-year-old Dutchman finds it "completely ridiculous" that the cooling vest will be compulsory in the event of a heat emergency from next year. Other drivers, on the other hand, had opted to wear the cooling vest in Singapore.

In any case, the prescribed minimum weight of the Formula 1 cars will be adjusted upwards if a driver wears such a cooling vest.

Minimum weight of the cars will be increased
If a driver decides against it - as was recently the case for world champion Verstappen from Red Bull, among others - the cars must still be equipped with a coolant tank, pumps and a heat exchanger.

The required minimum weight of the cars for the sprint on Saturday (19:00 CEST) and the main race for the US Grand Prix on Sunday (21:00 CEST) will be increased by five kilograms to 805 kilograms.