![](\"https:\/\/www.grandprix.com\/display\/photo?photo_caption=Nico+Hulkenberg%2C+Australian+GP+2026&photo_copyright=%C2%A9+Audi&photo_url=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.grandprix.com%2Fjpeg%2Fraces%2Fpaus26%2Fsun%2Faud%2Fhulkenberg18-lg.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNico Hulkenberg, Australian GP 2026
\u00a9 Audi<\/p>\n
Amid fresh complaints from the likes of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris, the 1997 world champion insists the new era is still producing entertaining racing.<\/p>\n
It’s different racing, but it’s fun, Villeneuve told Sky Deutschland.<\/p>\n
So what do you want? You want a good show? We have a good show.<\/p>\n
However, the Canadian admitted that drivers of his own generation may not have embraced the new style.<\/p>\n
If you had regulations like this back in the day and you asked us what we thought about them, I think both Ralf (Schumacher) and I would hate them, he said.<\/p>\n
We came into racing and it was tough and brutal, and now it’s different. Drivers need a different skill set. But you still see the best up front.<\/p>\n
Villeneuve also warned that any current novelty factor may not last.<\/p>\n
The first two races have been fun because it’s new, we don’t know what to expect, he said.<\/p>\n
However, if we have 10 races with exactly the same setup, at some point it will become cliche.<\/p>\n
Much of the current criticism centres on the heavy energy management demands of the cars – particularly on the higher-speed circuits.<\/p>\n
Sainz, a director of the GPDA, is among those concerned about how the regulations will play out at iconic venues later in the season.<\/p>\n
On a track like China, they’re not so bad because it’s easier to recharge, he told Spanish media.<\/p>\n
“But I think they’ll need to be reworked in Melbourne, Monza, and Spa, because even with development, it won’t be enough.<\/p>\n
I’m 100 percent sure that this isn’t the Formula 1 I want to see.<\/p>\n
World champion Norris shares those concerns, warning that the new style of racing could fundamentally change the character of circuits like Spa-Francorchamps.<\/p>\n
You’re not going to go into Pouhon and see who has the biggest balls, he said.<\/p>\n
“You’re just going to see who can lift at the right time and use the throttle without draining the battery.<\/p>\n
It’s probably not something any of us wanted to do growing up.<\/p>\n
Former driver Ralf Schumacher, also speaking to Sky Deutschland, has meanwhile called for more restraint from some of the sport’s most vocal critics – notably Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n
He shouldn’t start talking about Mario Kart, Schumacher said, referring to Verstappen’s description of the new rules.<\/p>\n
Schumacher suggested Red Bull is now missing a strong authoritative figure like Dr Helmut Marko to manage the situation internally.<\/p>\n
They need someone who can also say to Max – stop, that’s enough, he said.<\/p>\n
While Verstappen has insisted he is losing enjoyment in Formula 1, Schumacher doubts the Dutchman is serious about walking away.<\/p>\n
If he says he would have more fun elsewhere, I won’t take him seriously, he said.<\/p>\n
(GMM)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MARCH 18, 2026 Jacques Villeneuve has defended Formula 1’s controversial 2026 regulations – even as criticism from current…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[944,855,884,911,898,64,63,839,840,892,936,937,922,864,868,843,512,874,906,897,817,836,904,848,845,826,837,813,835,816,867,876,894,841,842,833,908,887,860,909,930,914,939,886,934,832,834,858,941,875,861,850,870,854,900,866,846,880,943,889,878,823,881,863,933,935,910,859,913,844,923,927,896,926,883,938,932,806,805,824,803,804,901,871,852,849,888,872,891,915,822,838,918,916,857,879,893,869,931,885,924,847,882,851,865,925,928,942,929,85,920,921,902,862,919,917,873,940,905,912,895,853,856,877,819,903,899,907,890],"class_list":["post-548923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-abu-dhabi","tag-adrian-sutil","tag-albers","tag-alesi","tag-ammermuller","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-autoracing","tag-autos","tag-badoer","tag-bahrain","tag-barcelona","tag-benetton","tag-bruno-senna","tag-button","tag-cars","tag-china","tag-david-coulthard","tag-davidson","tag-doornbos","tag-f1","tag-f1-racing","tag-fauzy","tag-felipe-massa","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-ferrari","tag-fia","tag-formula-1","tag-formula-one","tag-formula1","tag-giancarlo-fisichella","tag-gilles-villeneuve","tag-glock","tag-grand-prix","tag-grandprix","tag-grandprix-com","tag-hakkinen","tag-hamilton","tag-heikki-kovalainen","tag-hill","tag-hockenheim","tag-honda","tag-hungary","tag-ide","tag-indianapolis","tag-inside-f1","tag-insidef1-com","tag-jaime-alguesuari","tag-japan","tag-jaques-villeneuve","tag-jarno-trulli","tag-jenson-button","tag-juan-pablo-montoya","tag-kamui-kobayashi","tag-karthikeyan","tag-karun-chandhok","tag-kimi-raikkonen","tag-klien","tag-korea","tag-kovalainen","tag-kubica","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-liuzzi","tag-lucas-di-grassi","tag-magny-cours","tag-malaysia","tag-mansell","tag-mark-webber","tag-mclaren","tag-michael-schumacher","tag-minardi","tag-monaco","tag-montagny","tag-monte-carlo","tag-monteiro","tag-montreal","tag-monza","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motorsport","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-nakajima","tag-nick-heidfeld","tag-nico-hulkenberg","tag-nico-rosberg","tag-paffett","tag-pedro-de-la-rosa","tag-piquet","tag-prost","tag-racing","tag-racingcars","tag-red-bull","tag-renault","tag-robert-kubica","tag-rosberg","tag-rossiter","tag-rubens-barrichello","tag-san-marino","tag-sato","tag-sauber","tag-schumacher","tag-scott-speed","tag-sebastian-vettel","tag-sebastien-buemi","tag-senna","tag-silverstone","tag-singapore","tag-spa","tag-sports","tag-spyker","tag-super-aguri","tag-sutil","tag-timo-glock","tag-toro-rosso","tag-toyota","tag-trulli","tag-turkey","tag-valles","tag-verstappen","tag-vettel","tag-vitaly-petrov","tag-vitantonio-liuzzi","tag-webber","tag-williams","tag-winkelhock","tag-wurz","tag-yamamoto","tag-zonta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}