{"id":662728,"date":"2026-05-10T23:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T23:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/662728\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T23:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T23:27:13","slug":"ex-f1-stars-defend-new-regulations-in-warning-against-so-boring-v8-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/662728\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-F1 stars defend new regulations in warning against ‘so boring’ V8 return"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Formula 1<\/a> drivers Damon Hill and Juan Pablo Montoya have defended the sport\u2019s new maligned regulations cycle, with the Colombian describing his era in the sport as \u201cso boring\u201d amid a mooted return to V8 engines.<\/p>\n

The sport has been under a cloud of controversy and polarising opinion since the new regulations era began, with many accusing the 50-50 hybrids of producing synthetic racing.<\/p>\n

On top of that, concerns around safety have also been raised, with speed differences being cited as a potential increase of accidents, after Oliver Bearman\u2019s frightening crash in Suzuka when avoiding a slowing Franco Colapinto.<\/p>\n

Despite the regulations being \u2018refined\u2019 ahead of last weekend\u2019s Miami Grand Prix<\/a>, and the subsequent improvements on show, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem announced a timeframe for a return to V8 engines.<\/p>\n

But speaking after the race on the BBC\u2019s Chequered Flag podcast, Hill dubbed the new rules \u201cvery new\u201d and \u201cactually quite good,\u201d to which Montoya signalled his concurrence.<\/p>\n

\"Juan<\/p>\n

\"Damon<\/p>\n

Juan Pablo Montoya and Damon Hill defended the new regulations, with the Colombian describing his time in F1 as \u201cso boring\u201d amid a mooted return to V8 power<\/p>\n

\u201cI agree. I think it\u2019s really good,\u201d the former Williams and McLaren driver beamed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause if you see the guy\u2019s going to pass you, you can get into recharge mode earlier, and then you have a little bit more extra energy for the next straight and you can fight your way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the DRS, I always felt like you were a sitting duck. It\u2019s a second off. A second off is a pretty decent gap, or nine tenths.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then at the end of the straight, the guy blew by you, and they go, \u2018What an overtake!\u2019 And I go, \u2018What do you mean, what an overtake. He didn\u2019t do anything. He was just sitting there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Montoya, who raced during the V10 era and briefly at the beginning of the V8 era, tried to prick the notion of a return to V8s being a good idea in terms of bringing a better quality of racing and entertainment.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say, \u2018Oh, your time was so good\u2019, I say, \u2018Watch a race, it\u2019s so boring.’\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was sometimes like a short test session.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montoya\u2019s assertion certainly differs from that of many current F1 drivers, including reigning World Champion Lando Norris, who said<\/a> after the race to \u201cjust get rid of the battery,\u201d adding: \u201cHopefully, in a few years, that\u2019s the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE \u2013 F1 bosses at odds with drivers\u2019 anti-regulations narrative<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Formula 1 drivers Damon Hill and Juan Pablo Montoya have defended the sport\u2019s new maligned regulations cycle,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,817,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":["post-662728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662728","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=662728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}