Max Verstappen’s comments regarding the 2026 Formula 1 cars and labeling them as Formula E on steroids have attracted countercomments from his fellow drivers.Lando Norris and George Russell unsurprisingly criticized the Red Bull Racing ace and delivered comments that conform with the narrative Formula One Management is pushing regarding the new 2026 single-seaters, as both Britons basically told the Dutchman to leave the sport if he doesn’t like the cars.
However, Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso attempted to deliver a balanced verdict while highlighting some interesting yet worrying aspects of the 2026 F1 cars.
He said: “Here in Bahrain, Turn 12 has historically been a very challenging corner. So you used to choose your downforce level to go Turn 12 just flat. So you remove downforce until you are in Turn 12 just flat with new tyres and then in the race. So driver skill was a decisive factor to go fast in a lap time.
“Now in Turn 12 we are like 50km/h slower because we don’t want to waste energy there and we want to have all on the straights. So to do Turn 12 instead of 260km/h at 200km/h, you can drive the car—the chef can drive the car in Turn 12 at that speed. But you don’t want to waste energy because you want to have it on the straights.
“So I understand Max’s comments,” the Spaniard stated, “because from a driver [point of view], you would like to make the difference in the corner, driving those 5km/h faster, but now you are dictated by how much energy your engine will have on the next straight.
Energy is now the differentiator 
“But at the same time this is Formula 1, and it has been always like that. Now it’s the energy. Two years ago when [Verstappen] won all the races, it was the downforce. He could go in the corners at 280km/h, and we could go in the corners at 250km/h because we didn’t have the downforce.
“At the end of the day, this is Formula 1,” the double F1 champion went on. “We close the visor, we go, and this is the same motor racing.
“Sometimes we go to the rental kart here in Bahrain—an incredible circuit, by the way—and you have a lot of fun with a rental kart. So we still love motor racing, we still love competing, and for the regs I understand there is less input by the driving skills.
“But I think after three or four races maybe we have a better idea,” the 44-year-old maintained.
Having raced in F1 since 2001, Alonso has experienced several car generations and revealed his favorite.
He said: “Definitely on the pure driving, I said last week at the car launch that for me the late 90s and the early 2000s will be unbeatable in terms of driving adrenaline and pure skills from a driver point of view, because you want to drive fast on the corners and find the limits of the car.” (Reporting by Agnes Carlier)