Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen, 2026.
Photo: MARCEL VAN DORST / AFP
Four-times world champion Max Verstappen blasted Formula 1’s new era as a ‘joke’ after retiring from the Chinese Grand Prix with a power unit problem.
The Red Bull driver, no fan of the new engine with its increased electrical element and need to manage energy deployment, slowed and limped back to the pits on lap 46.
He was not classified in a race of 15 finishers on Sunday.
“It’s not about being upset at where I am, because I’m actually fighting even more now,” the Dutchman told reporters. “I would say the same if I was winning races, because I care about the racing product.
“For me, it’s a joke,” he continued, calling the new rules “fundamentally flawed”.
The 71-times race winner has spent more time this season scrapping for meagre points than he has been used to.
He fought his way through the pack from 20th on the grid following a crash in qualifying at last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, and dropped from eighth to 14th in Saturday’s sprint race in China before finishing ninth and out of the points.
Not everyone shares Verstappen’s opinion, with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff praising the racing between his two drivers and the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
The Ferrari drivers were also effusive about the battle between them in a race that ultimately saw Kimi Antonelli secure his maiden F1 win for Mercedes.
“Sometimes we are nostalgic about the good old years, but I think the product is good in itself,” Austrian Wolff told reporters after the race.
“The vast majority, through all demographics, like the sport at the moment,” he added.
“Max is really in a horror show. I’m sure for someone like Max, who is a full attack guy, it’s difficult to cope and digest.”
Verstappen said he hoped Formula 1 would not prioritise reaching new fans and growing the sport’s appeal by making overtaking easier at the expense of conventional racing.
“I hope they don’t think like that, because it will eventually ruin the sport. It will come and bite them back in the ass,” he said.
“Maybe some fans like it, but they don’t understand racing.”
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso retired from the race complaining that he could not feel his hands and feet due to the excessive vibration of his Honda-powered car.
The two-times world champion had pinned high hopes on the 2026 engine and chassis reset – the biggest regulatory overhaul in decades – and on design guru Adrian Newey’s first car for the British team, but the outfit struggled at the back of the field.
“On lap 20 to 35, I was struggling a bit to feel my hands and my feet,” the Spaniard told reporters. “We were one lap behind, we were last, and there was probably no point to keep going.”
Honda, whose engines powered Max Verstappen to four drivers’ world championships with Red Bull, are up against it to identify and fix the issue ahead of their home race in Japan in two weeks’ time.
– Reuters