The haste to change the rules follows months of discontent with this year\u2019s new heavily hybridised motors, which feature an almost equal split between combustion and electrical power.<\/p>\n
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Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship\u2122 LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n Max Verstappen has been the formula\u2019s most vocal critical, describing it as \u201canti-racing\u201d and like all-electric series Formula E \u201con steroids\u201d.<\/p>\n Though the balance between combustion and electrical energy will be tweaked over the coming years, most drivers believe the formula is inherently flawed.<\/p>\n But this year\u2019s advent of synthetic fuels, which are billed as carbon neutral, has allowed the sport to countenance a return to high-revving and naturally aspirated engines without damaging its green credentials, and Ben Sulayem has since said he intends to use his power as the sport\u2019s regulator to force the change through sooner or later.<\/p>\n Ecclestone, who ran the sport for almost half a century until he was ousted in 2017 as part of Liberty Media\u2019s takeover, backed the president\u2019s move as \u201cthe right thing to do\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s one of the two things which I hope [Ben Sulayem] is going to do in the future: a three-litre engine,\u201d he said, per Autosport.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t care if it\u2019s a V8 or a V10 or a V12. I think probably all of you would be happy with that. I think it\u2019s the right thing to do.<\/p>\n \u201c[Ben Sulayem] would like it if all the teams put their hands up and said it\u2019s fantastic, which I\u2019m sure they would do if they weren\u2019t controlled by a manufacturer.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the manufacturers will come on board, because it\u2019s obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n PIT TALK PODCAST: George Russell claims just his second grand prix victory of the season in Austria to cut his championship deficit to 40 points, but should Max Verstappen have won the race \u2014 and what does Red Bull Racing\u2019s big upgrade mean for his future as speculation continues to swirl around his intentions? | Listen to Pit Talk ><\/a><\/p>\n Ecclestone, who was a high-profile critic of the sport\u2019s first hybrid engine in 2014 despite still running Formula 1 at the time, added that Verstappen was correct to go on the offensive against the regulations.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was right criticising,\u201d he said. \u201cI think the regulations weren\u2019t necessary to do what has been done, and that\u2019s what Max was complaining about.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking about Formula 1 more broadly since he relinquished the reins, Ecclestone said the Liberty Media era had been mostly good for the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cThey made things a little bit more American, which is basically what they wanted to do,\u201d he said, per PlanetF1. \u201cOtherwise they\u2019re doing all the things that look good, which is also important.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom that point of view, it\u2019s positive.\u201d<\/p>\n He did, however, declare that expanding the calendar to 24 grands prix was a mistake.<\/p>\n \u201cTwenty-four races is wrong for everyone, including the public. You lose a lot of people who miss a race and say, \u2018Oh, we\u2019re going to see one very shortly in another couple of weeks\u2019 or something.\u201d<\/p>\n The calendar expanded to 21 races in the final year of his administration.<\/p>\n Brown won’t rule out Verstappen move | 00:27<\/p>\n RACING BULLS DRIVERS AT ODDS OVER TEAM ORDER DISOBEDIENCE<\/p>\n Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad embroiled himself in a team orders controversy after apparently wilfully disobeying an instruction not to overtake teammate Liam Lawson on reliability grounds at the Austrian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n Racing Bulls completed its third consecutive double points finish at the Red Bull Ring off the back of just its second double Q3 qualifying result of the season, consolidating its hold on sixth in the championship and reducing its deficit to midfield leader Alpine to just 13 points.<\/p>\n The team was so effective in Austria that it quickly became clear that it would comfortably finish ahead of all its midfield rivals \u2014 so long as it could manage its brake temperatures, which became critical late in the opening stint on the sweltering Sunday.<\/p>\n Lawson had been leading Lindblad in the first stint, but the need for Lindblad to stop first to avoid being undercut by Gabriel Bortoleto had the unintended effect of effectively undercutting his teammate, whom he passed incidentally as part of an overtake on Oliver Bearman after the Kiwi\u2019s pit stop one lap later.<\/p>\n Lawson immediately passed both drivers with a decisive but risky double move on the way to turn 4.<\/p>\n The teammates were then told not to fight each other because brake temperatures were \u201ccritical\u201d and would be a risk without lifting and coasting.<\/p>\n Lawson was asked whether Lindblad would try to pass him while they were both managing brakes. He was told that he would not be attacked.<\/p>\n Lindblad, however, overtook Lawson on the next lap on the brakes into turn 4, muscling him onto the outside line to take position.<\/p>\n Lawson angrily radioed his engineer, who confirmed Lindblad had been told.<\/p>\n \u201cLast f***ing time I\u2019m listening, man,\u201d replied the New Zealander. \u201cI lift off 50 metres [early] and I get attacked.\u201d<\/p>\n The team responded by allowing Lawson to undercut Lindblad at the second stops, and this time the Briton obeyed the team instruction to stay behind to ensure a double points finish.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a strategy and executed it in the first stint, and then we were trying to manage,\u201d Lawson said afterwards. \u201cI was told to manage brakes and that I wouldn\u2019t be attacked, and then I was.<\/p>\n \u201cProbably [we will have to discuss it internally], I would say. Yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n Lindblad wouldn\u2019t be drawn on the incident.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the end I\u2019m happy with the race; it\u2019s double points for the team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI had some fun, I got stuck in, I think I did a good race.<\/p>\n \u201cWe finished P9 and P10. It worked out pretty well. There was no threat from behind.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton & Verstappen do battle again! | 00:39<\/p>\n MERCEDES UPGRADE BANNED AFTER FERRARI LOBBYING<\/p>\n Mercedes has been forced to roll back a controversial upgrade to its diffuser after lobbying from Ferrari ended with it being ruled illegal by the FIA.<\/p>\n The diffuser is the powerful aerodynamic part at the rear of the car that accelerates airflow under the floor to create downforce.<\/p>\n Mercedes debuted an ambitious take on the diffuser at the Canadian Grand Prix, where it introduced its last major upgrade package. A complex serrated edge effectively allowed the diffuser length to be extended, thereby increasing its power and efficiency.<\/p>\n According to The Race, Ferrari had had what it felt was a similar design outlawed by the FIA following private conversations with the governing body at the start of the season, and it subsequently abandoned further development on that part of the car.<\/p>\n Ferrari and reportedly Red Bull Racing asked for clarification about Mercedes\u2019s part, which resulted in some changes being made by the German marque for the Monaco Grand Prix.<\/p>\n Ongoing lobbying, however, triggered the FIA to outlaw the trick design in a bid to prevent a spending war breaking out in a grey area of the regulations.<\/p>\n Mercedes was subsequently forced to remove the new diffuser from the car for the weekend\u2019s Austrian Grand Prix via a technical directive, which acts as a supplementary regulation.<\/p>\n MORE FORMULA 1<\/p>\n EXPLAINED: Where Max\u2019s future stands after \u2018big F1 step\u2019, fresh McLaren talks twist<\/a><\/p>\n TALKING POINTS: Baffling Austria flop explained; how Piastri first silenced greats<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE\u2019: What\u2019s behind F1\u2019s $311m chaos as volatile state of play explained<\/a><\/p>\n Racing Bulls, which had followed Mercedes with a similar design, was also forced to race with a modified diffuser, though Haas continued with a related but less extreme interpretation.<\/p>\n