Verstappen: F1 fans who enjoy 2026 rules 'don't understand racing'

Max Verstappen has claimed anybody who enjoys the new Formula 1 regulations doesn’t understand motor racing in yet another criticism of the 2026 ruleset.

The four-time world champion has been the biggest critic of F1’s latest regulation overhaul, which has changed both the chassis and power unit, the latter being more reliant on electrical energy.

It means battery harvesting is playing a greater role at grands prix and during the off-season, Verstappen criticised it as "anti-racing" and “Formula E on steroids” with many others joining him in the same opinion.

But now two rounds into the campaign, there are some fans being won over by the switch due to how it’s all caused ‘yo-yo’ style racing with wheel-to-wheel battles more constant - the Australia opener, for example, had 75 more overtakes than last year.

Yet Verstappen is still not a fan of that, as it adds to the belief that the new rules have created ‘artificial racing’ with many different driver aids such as the overtake button.

“It’s terrible, if someone likes this, then you really don't know what racing is about,” said the Red Bull driver. “It’s not fun at all. It’s playing Mario Kart. This is not racing.

“You are boosting past, then you run out of battery the next straight, they boost past you again. For me, it's just a joke.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Lars Baron / Getty Images

Verstappen then shot down the idea that it’s caused tighter battles, as Mercedes has still won both grands prix this year - George Russell in Australia and Kimi Antonelli in China - despite Ferrari jumping its drivers at race start. 

“It's just Kimi or George that is winning,” added the Dutchman. “It's not really back and forth. They're miles ahead of the field.

“It's just that Ferrari sometimes has these good starts, that they push themselves in front and then it takes a few laps to sort it all out. Like I said, this has nothing to do with racing. I would say the same if I would be winning races, because I care about the racing product.

“It's not about being upset about where I am, because I'm actually fighting even more now, so you get to understand what you have to do and what it is about even more. For me, it's a joke.”

He claimed the rules are “fundamentally flawed” so it’s difficult to improve them, despite recently calling on F1 and its governing body the FIA to make changes as soon as possible. 

When asked if he’s spoken to the authorities about rewriting the rules, Verstappen said: “You have to be a bit careful with how you say these things. We are talking about it. I think they understand where we are coming from as drivers.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

“I think I speak for most of the drivers. Some, of course, will say it's great because they are winning races, which is fair enough. When you have an advantage, why would you give that up?

“You never know if you're going to have a good car again. But if you just speak to most of the drivers, it's not what we like. I don't think it's what the real F1 fans like.”

Verstappen makes that comment amid F1’s popularity boom since the recent birth of Netflix hit Drive to Survive, meaning the audience demographic has changed significantly since his debut in 2015.

So he was asked if F1 now views the racing as a “product” and as long as fans are watching, regardless of whether they understand it in the “conventional sense”, that’s all that matters.

“I hope they don't think like that, because it will eventually ruin the sport,” he responded. “It will come and bite them back in the ass. But for me, as long as we can just communicate with them and make sure that we are working on some solutions, that will help a lot.

“It's also going to be very difficult for everyone to agree, of course. Not everyone needs to agree, but most of the people have to agree to make changes.

“But it's political, right? Some people feel they have the advantage now, and they want to, of course, use that and rightly so. I get that. I'm not stupid, but at the same time, if you look at it for the sport, it's just not good.”

This all comes after a frustrating start for Verstappen, who retired from Sunday’s Chinese GP. It means he is now eighth in the championship with only eight points after finishing sixth in Melbourne.