SAKHIR, Bahrain — For years, so much focus within the Formula 1 world has been geared toward 2026 and the start of what was promised to be a new, exciting era for the sport.
All-new car designs and all-new engines marked the greatest technical overhaul in F1’s recent history.
A greater focus on engine-generated electrical power, along with the use of fully sustainable fuels, would ensure relevance for manufacturers, helping draw interest from Ford, Audi, and Honda to commit to involvement. The regulation rewrite could give teams the chance to break out of their previous performance patterns and surge forward, hinting at an exciting shake-up of the pecking order.
But as preseason testing continued in Bahrain this week, and drivers are getting used to the new way they have to drive the cars, a stark assessment was delivered by one of the sport’s biggest stars.
These cars may not be very fun to drive.
Max Verstappen, the four-time world champion, put his head above the parapet on Thursday evening. He has long been calm and forthright with the media. Here, the honesty was brutal.
“Not a lot of fun.” “Like Formula E on steroids.” “Anti-racing.” “Just not Formula 1.”
Take your pick of the quotes; the sentiment was strong.
Verstappen’s skewering of the new cars centered on the energy management demands of the new engines. For 2026, the electrical power has tripled, going from an 80/20 split between the engine and the hybrid system to being almost 50/50.
The cars, now energy-starved, must be driven cleverly to keep recharging the battery across a lap. Tactics such as dropping down to first gear (rarely necessary in the past), running at maximum revs in a gear or avoiding full throttle at points can all help top up energy levels for later in a lap.
But that’s not how F1 drivers are used to piloting their cars, emphasizing energy management to the extent that it compromises their aggressive, natural instincts. As Verstappen put it: “The whole way of racing is changing, and I would say less pure.”
Drivers’ concerns have been around far longer than their first extended taste of these cars, which came last month during the private Barcelona test. Following their first experiences in the simulator, using early models that were far from what the final car would be, there were already some worries about what they’d be like to drive. Six months ago, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was one of the first figures to express his fear it would be “probably less enjoyable to drive”.
That feeling seemed to shift once the real-world cars debuted in Barcelona and drivers began to get to grips with the new aspects. Yes, they were different, but also somewhat refreshing. Leclerc changed his tune. “I actually quite like that everything is new and then there might be an opportunity for us drivers to think outside the box,” he told F1 TV.
Max Verstappen referred to the new cars as “anti-racing” (Peter Fox/Getty Images)
Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton said he thought the new generation of cars was “actually a little bit more fun to drive”. Hamilton never enjoyed the style of cars used from 2022 to 2025, which used ground effect to generate downforce underneath the car. The new cars are slightly lighter and have cut back on downforce, meaning they slide more in the corners, an element Hamilton enjoyed.
In Bahrain on Wednesday, Hamilton wasn’t quite so glowing. Although he still called them “quite fun,” he raised concerns about how technical they had become.
“None of the fans are going to understand it, I don’t think,” Hamilton said. “It’s so complex. It’s ridiculously complex. I sat in a meeting the other day and they’re taking us through it — it’s like you need a degree to fully understand it all.”
Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson, who is entering his second full F1 season, admitted he was finding the car “pretty tough to drive”. He said that was chiefly down to the loss in downforce as opposed to how busy they were in the cockpit, and that it was still “early days” in learning how to get the best out of the new cars.
But what is it like from an enjoyment perspective, one reporter asked. Are the cars fun to drive?
“Ummm…,” Lawson said, before breaking into a smile. After some laughs around the table, it went silent for a couple of seconds until his press officer said: “Next question.”
Verstappen’s stark thoughts on the new cars are unlikely to have been well-received by many of the stakeholders at F1 and the FIA, who put so much time and effort into refining the new rules. And although, as evidenced by Lawson, there is a lukewarm feeling in areas about the cars, it would be incorrect to say all of the grid shares Verstappen’s feelings.
They all agree that they are different from the previous cars, but different does not necessarily mean they are bad.
Verstappen’s 2025 title rival, Lando Norris, was the most vocal defender. When he spoke to reporters on Thursday night in Bahrain, Verstappen’s comments had already gone out to the world and ignited the conversation. Norris, F1’s reigning world champion, offered some balance.
Lando Norris took a more optimistic tone on the new cars (Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
“Formula 1 changes all the time — sometimes it’s a bit better to drive, sometimes it’s not as good to drive,” he said. “We get paid a stupid amount of money to drive, so you can’t really complain at the end of the day. Any driver can go and find something else to do; it’s not like he has to be here or any driver has to be here.” He called the new cars “a good, fun challenge”.
Norris understood that his new car “doesn’t feel as pretty and beautiful to drive” as the last one, given the drop in pace. But he also noted that it is early in the new cycle and that, through development, teams would claw back more performance in the coming years.
“Anyone and everyone can make their own opinions and have their own opinions, and say and decide what they want to do,” Norris said. “No one should complain about that or be upset about it. Every driver has their own opinions. He (Verstappen) didn’t like it, and I liked it.”
F1’s new era will take time for drivers, teams, and fans to understand and digest fully. And it’s understandable that change is not to everyone’s liking and can easily draw criticism. It’s happened before.
In 2014, when F1 ditched V8 engines for V6 hybrids, a big performance spread and poor reliability to begin with led to loud cries from senior figures about the state of the sport. Luca di Montezemolo, then Ferrari’s chairman, claimed the grid had “turned into taxi drivers” due to the complexity of the rules. Bernie Ecclestone, who was F1’s CEO, claimed he was “horrified” by the lack of noise from the engines. Yet by the end of that engine cycle in 2025, F1 was in ruder health and more competitive than ever on the track.
The new cars will not be to every driver’s liking. But they are still at the pinnacle of motorsport, and will roll with this fresh start while maintaining their basic racing principles, as alien as it may feel.
“You just start again, you know? You relearn, you adapt,” said Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg, a veteran entering his 13th full season in F1.
“But at the end of the day, it’s a racing car with four wheels, with a front wing, with a rear wing and a steering wheel. The physics stay the same.”
