{"id":606003,"date":"2026-04-14T10:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T10:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/606003\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T10:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T10:03:10","slug":"helmut-marko-demands-immediate-change-to-f1-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/606003\/","title":{"rendered":"Helmut Marko demands immediate change to F1 regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Helmut Marko has demanded immediate changes to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.formula1.com\/en\/racing\/2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2026 <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsportweek.com\/series\/single-seater\/formula-1\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Formula 1<\/a> regulations following a divisive start to the new season.<\/p>\n<p>The 2026 regulations have proven divisive amongst drivers, teams and fans, with concerns over artificial racing and excessive battery management taking centre stage. <\/p>\n<p>Drivers are at the mercy of their batteries and software, in some cases, the car overriding a driver\u2019s command leading to accidental overtaking.<\/p>\n<p>Qualifying has also been significantly impacted, the cars slowing down on straights in order to harvest energy, diluting the spectacle. <\/p>\n<p>Marko has attacked the complexity of the regulations, questioning whether changes proposed by the FIA for Miami will save 2026. <\/p>\n<p> \u201cIt\u2019s too complicated and the software plays too dominant a role,\u201d the 82-year-old Austrian told Kleine Zeitung.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know if that can be rectified in a single season. Something has to be done, and driving skill must be brought back to the fore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"579\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Max-Verstappen-F1-Japanese-GP-13-1024x579.webp.webp\" alt=\"Helmut Marko has questioned the driver skill needed to drive the 2026 cars \" class=\"wp-image-243123\"  \/>Helmut Marko has questioned the driver skill needed to drive the 2026 cars <\/p>\n<p>Helmut Marko demands change \u201cnow\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marko, former head of Red Bull\u2019s Young Driver Programme, has summarised the mood amongst the drivers, as they grapple with a radically different driving style.<\/p>\n<p>Demanding changes, he has offered his solution to the the growing number of issues with the regulations. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe mood among the drivers is negative,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChanges need to be made now, and hopefully the FIA will do everything in its power to reduce the battery\u2019s share and focus more on the combustion engine.<\/p>\n<p>Marko is known for his blunt and honest opinions, his take on the 2026 rules being no different. As a former driver academy head, he will be in tune with the concerns of the drivers.<\/p>\n<p>Like many others, he will be watching to see the impact of any changes made ahead of Miami. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Helmut Marko has demanded immediate changes to the 2026 Formula 1 regulations following a divisive start to the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,75926,15196,85],"class_list":["post-606003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-marko","tag-redbull","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606003","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=606003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}