{"id":471474,"date":"2026-02-13T02:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T02:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/471474\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T02:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T02:38:10","slug":"max-verstappen-launches-f1-2026-criticism-as-mercedes-suffer-setback-racingnews365-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/471474\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen launches F1 2026 criticism as Mercedes suffer setback &#8211; RacingNews365 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Max Verstappen has delivered a scathing review of the new 2026 F1 rules, claiming it would even be better to &#8220;drive in Formula E&#8221;, such are the energy management demands on drivers.<\/p>\n<p>For F1&#8217;s new engines, the power output is split 50-50 between the internal combustion engine and beefed-up electrical systems, with the batteries now producing 350kw of power, up from 120kw in 2025.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/racingnews365.com\/max-verstappen-delivers-scathing-verdict-on-new-f1-better-to-drive-in-formula-e\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">READ MORE: Max Verstappen delivers scathing verdict on new F1: \u2018It\u2019s anti-racing\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tMercedes forced into complete major F1 power unit change<\/p>\n<p>Mercedes has been forced into making a complete power unit change, impacting Kimi Antonelli&#8217;s running on the second day of the opening test in Bahrain.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Silver Arrows discovered an issue with the power unit it was running, and following an investigation has decided to complete a full change.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/racingnews365.com\/mercedes-forced-into-complete-f1-power-unit-change\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">READ MORE: Mercedes forced into complete major F1 power unit change<\/a><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"content-field__images__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/MP0_4128.jpg\" width=\"650\" alt=\"&#9;&#9;&#9;\u00a9 RN365\/Michael Potts&#10;&#9;\" loading=\"lazy\" onerror=\"window.utilitiesPictureTagFallbackHandler(this)\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\u00a9 RN365\/Michael Potts<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t2026 F1 Bahrain pre-season 1st test \u2013 Day 2 full results<\/p>\n<p>Charles Leclerc topped the timesheets on the second day of the first pre-season test in Bahrain, offering strong pace in Ferrari&#8217;s SF-26.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Leclerc had the entirety of Thursday behind the wheel of Ferrari&#8217;s 2026 car, posting a 1m 34.273 to go five-tenths faster than McLaren&#8217;s Lando Norris.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/racingnews365.com\/2026-f1-bahrain-pre-season-1st-test-day-2-full-results\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">READ MORE: 2026 F1 Bahrain pre-season 1st test \u2013 Day 2 full results<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tRed Bull handed &#8216;mighty impressive&#8217; verdict after GPS data direction<\/p>\n<p>Carlos Sainz has hailed Red Bull&#8217;s performance on the opening day of the first pre-season test in Bahrain as &#8220;mighty impressive&#8221; and believes they are &#8220;a clear step&#8221; ahead of their F1 rivals.<\/p>\n<p>Sainz enjoyed his own productive outing as Williams took to the track for the first time after it was forced to miss the private five-day shakedown at Barcelona&#8217;s Circuit de Catalunya.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/racingnews365.com\/red-bull-handed-mighty-impressive-verdict-after-gps-data-direction\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">READ MORE: Red Bull handed &#8216;mighty impressive&#8217; verdict after GPS data direction<\/a><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"content-field__images__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Verstappen-Test-Bahrain-Day-1.jpg\" width=\"650\" alt=\"&#9;&#9;&#9;\u00a9 XPBimages&#10;&#9;\" loading=\"lazy\" onerror=\"window.utilitiesPictureTagFallbackHandler(this)\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\u00a9 XPBimages<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tMcLaren unusual strategy identified as F1 rivals take different approach<\/p>\n<p>Ted Kravitz has pointed out how McLaren is bucking the pre-season trend of continuously adding new components to its car across the two official tests, ahead of the campaign-opening Australian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n<p>The reigning constructors&#8217; champion has equipped the MCL40 at the Bahrain International Circuit with what is expected to be the aerodynamic package it will use in Melbourne.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/racingnews365.com\/mclaren-unusual-strategy-identified-as-f1-rivals-take-different-approach\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">READ MORE: McLaren unusual strategy identified as F1 rivals take different approach<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tLando Norris calls Max Verstappen retirement bluff after astonishing F1 attack<\/p>\n<p>Lando Norris believes if Max Verstappen &#8220;wants to retire, he can retire&#8221; following the Dutchman&#8217;s astonishing attack on F1&#8217;s new regulations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday of the first pre-season Bahrain test, Verstappen branded the new F1 rules as &#8220;Formula E on steroids&#8221;, as &#8220;anti-racing&#8221; and hinted that he could walk away given his dissatisfaction with the new energy management demands placed on drivers.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/racingnews365.com\/lando-norris-calls-max-verstappen-retirement-bluff-after-astonishing-f1-attack\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">READ MORE: Lando Norris calls Max Verstappen retirement bluff after astonishing F1 attack<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen has delivered a scathing review of the new 2026 F1 rules, claiming it would even be&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,2476,578,2479,2477,2480,2478,930,576,577,932,1885,2475,582,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-471474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-daniel-ricciardo","11":"tag-f1","12":"tag-f1-calendar","13":"tag-f1-live","14":"tag-f1-results","15":"tag-f1-standings","16":"tag-ferrari","17":"tag-formula-1","18":"tag-formula1","19":"tag-lewis-hamilton","20":"tag-max-verstappen","21":"tag-motorsport","22":"tag-racing","23":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}