revealing his simulator running for Silverstone had left him stunned by how different the circuit felt<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cSilverstone, I love the track, but I did a few laps on the simulator and I just started laughing,\u201d Verstappen said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like a different track, to be honest. You barely have battery around the lap.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just constantly flat [on the throttle]. So yes, it\u2019s going to feel very different compared to what we are used to around Silverstone, because of the layout of the track.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHere [in Austria] you have long straights and big braking zones, so you can charge the battery. There you have long straights but in a fast corner, for example, so you can\u2019t really charge the batteries, and then the next straight you don\u2019t have a lot [of electrical energy] to spend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a tough one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Verstappen\u2019s concerns were echoed at Silverstone on media day for the British Grand Prix, where several drivers offered downbeat assessments of how the 2026 cars are expected to behave.<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton said the issue had been widely discussed among drivers before the weekend, with the Ferrari driver expecting the power loss to be especially noticeable through the circuit\u2019s fastest sections.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is going to be the most unprecedented weekend in terms of the power deployment,\u201d said Hamilton.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll us drivers have been talking in the drivers\u2019 chat about just how poor the power is going to be through this track.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe run out of battery power, there\u2019s only a few corners to charge the engine, so the [MGU-]K will be switched off for a large portion of the lap.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamilton said the loss of deployment through corners such as Copse, Maggotts and Becketts would make Silverstone feel almost unrecognisable compared to previous years.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I think it\u2019s going to be huge. If you look at the speed traces, we start losing deployment going into Copse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally the engine\u2019s screaming as you\u2019re going into Copse, and you\u2019re holding on for dear life as you go through there flat out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year, the engine will be coasting down, most likely will be downshifting whilst full throttle, trying to keep the engine revs higher. It\u2019ll be a long, long straight with no deployment, basically.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fernando Alonso was also pessimistic, saying the high-speed sections that once made Silverstone one of the most rewarding circuits on the calendar could be transformed into energy-saving zones.<\/p>\n
Asked what Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel would feel like under the 2026 regulations, Alonso described it as \u201ca charging station\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the next two races are going to be a different experience than what we\u2019ve been used to driving in Silverstone and Spa,\u201d Alonso said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year is going to be very different and not fun to drive the cars. Looking at the simulator laps and things like that it\u2019s going to be quite sad, I think, for the drivers, but also for the spectators.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haas driver Ollie Bearman said the biggest shame was that some of F1\u2019s most famous high-speed sections no longer felt as special in the new cars.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the tracks with the most character in the previous generation, the fast-flowing high-speed circuits now just lack reward when driving them, and that hurts a bit,\u201d said Bearman.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd one of maybe the ballsiest sections of track of the whole year \u2013 which was Maggotts and Becketts \u2013 this year it seems to be just one corner, and the bits before you\u2019re going so slow because you don\u2019t have any power that it\u2019s not actually a corner anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
His team-mate Esteban Ocon offered a similar view, saying Silverstone would not provide the same challenge as in previous seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first part of the track will still be a good challenge,\u201d said Ocon.<\/p>\n
\u201cTurn 1, you are still going to have the deployment, which is going to be pushing you quite hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut after that, it\u2019s not as rewarding and challenging as it was in the previous years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sergio Perez said Silverstone would likely be the biggest examination yet of the 2026 regulations, even after changes aimed at easing some of the earlier energy management problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s probably the best test we face so far, since Miami,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other circuits were not so critical with energy. I think this one is the biggest tests we are facing with these new regulations so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lando Norris offered a more measured view, suggesting the race could still deliver for fans even if the cars feel less spectacular from the cockpit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll see. I think actually Sunday will be exciting,\u201d Norris said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the outside, I think it will be great. Certainly there\u2019s going to be less challenges on the track itself compared to what you\u2019ve seen in the past few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cCopse will certainly not be quite the same challenge it was over the last few years. Maggots, Becketts, maybe not quite the same challenge, but it\u2019ll still be quick. I think it\u2019ll still be good to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norris admitted the experience would not be the same for drivers, but said Silverstone would still retain much of its appeal.<\/p>\n
\u201cInside the car, it might not feel exactly the same and exactly as we want as drivers, pushing through Copse and feeling like you\u2019re on the limit there and on the limits through Maggots and Becketts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it will still be good. It\u2019s still Silverstone. We\u2019re still in Formula 1. So in the end of the day, we can\u2019t complain too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
George Russell was one of the few drivers to offer a more positive view, arguing the energy limitation could at least create better racing for fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Silverstone will be great,\u201d said Russell.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith these regs, we knew there were going to be some tracks that were more difficult than others for 22 drivers to experience. 600,000 fans here, I don\u2019t think probably care so much about energy management.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd on the flip side, the tracks that are most challenging for the energy, such as Melbourne, China, they have so far produced better racing than we\u2019ve seen in the past at those tracks.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd there\u2019s no doubt that tracks that are energy starved, their racing will be better, and it will be a bit more chaotic, so you could look at that as the positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
2026 F1 British Grand Prix \u2013 Schedule, how to watch, TV times & more<\/a><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drivers are expecting a different challenge at Silverstone this weekend with the new generation of F1 cars. Image:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":775396,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,2334,22304,817,845,813,816,3875,823,825,5242,2072,6490,85],"class_list":["post-775395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-british-gp","tag-esteban-ocon","tag-f1","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-george-russell","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-max-verstappen","tag-oliver-bearman","tag-sergio-perez","tag-slot3","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775395","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=775395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Drivers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/XPB_1359706_HiRes.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SCA-1196-Wk1-Cat-BPO-Speedcafe_728x90.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n