Max Verstappen is \u201cused to being up front\u201d and so is not \u201chaving as much fun\u201d as he would like to right now in F1 2026, so says Cadillac F1 board member, and 1978 World Champion, Mario Andretti.<\/p>\n
Those comments from Andretti come after Verstappen<\/a> unleashed his fiercest attack yet on the F1 2026 regulations following the Chinese Grand Prix. Andretti says that it is up to each driver to \u201cjust deal with\u201d what they have and \u201cmake the best of it\u201d. Verstappen had, ironically, called F1 2026 \u201cMario kart\u201d.<\/p>\n Mario Andretti tackles Max Verstappen F1 2026 criticism<\/p>\n Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n Battery deployment, harvesting and super clipping play a critical role in performance and overtaking with this new formula. Various drivers have expressed concerns over this, including four-time World Champion Verstappen, who has made it very clear that he is not a fan.<\/p>\n Verstappen called the regulations \u201ca joke\u201d following the Chinese GP, and said any fans who like this Formula 1 \u201creally don\u2019t know what racing is<\/a>\u201d. He quipped that F1 2026 is real-life \u201cMario Kart\u201d and suggested that \u201csome of course will say it\u2019s great because they are winning races\u201d, in a nod to Mercedes.<\/p>\n Verstappen also stressed that his stance would not change if Red Bull had made a strong start to the season. Instead, Verstappen has collected just eight points across the opening two rounds. He retired from the Chinese GP with an ERS coolant failure.<\/p>\n Formula 1\u2019s own Mario, that being Mario Andretti, was asked for his thoughts on the racing so far in this new F1 era, and Verstappen\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are many aspects overall that are positive. Not everything is negative, so to speak,\u201d said Andretti as he appeared on the Drive to Wynn podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cMax says that, obviously, the teams that have embraced this thing, that don\u2019t have the issues that they have, are quite happy.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you know, the likes of Max, he\u2019s used to being up front, and having things pretty much going his way, and so he\u2019s not having as much fun as he would like to right now.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, you\u2019re going to have some of that. It\u2019s up to everyone to just deal with whatever hand that they\u2019re dealt and make the best of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Latest Max Verstappen news from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n Max Verstappen dominates at Nurburgring with crushing GT3 win<\/a><\/p>\n Max Verstappen eyes Nurburgring 24 Hours qualifiers after dominant NLS2 victory<\/a><\/p>\n With Verstappen clearly not enjoying this version of Formula 1 racing, Andretti was asked where the joy of driving came from for himself, and whether he sees it in this ruleset.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, the joy of driving is to have equipment under you that\u2019s capable, and then extract the maximum out of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs much as things change, all of the satisfactions that you\u2019re looking for are basically the same.<\/p>\n \u201cSo just totally trying to understand everything that you need to be able to do a better job than the guy next to you.<\/p>\n \u201cSo all of it is, again, I repeat, as much as things change, still, they remain the same in that respect.\u201d<\/p>\n F1 2026 resumes next weekend with the Japanese Grand Prix. It is an event which Verstappen has won four years in a row.<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n