Max Verstappen has again spoken out on the changes to Formula 1 following the new 2026 regulations, as well as the potential field order for the Australian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman has been vocal regarding his complaints about the direction F1 is headed with the 2026 regulations.
With a move towards stronger energy reliance, Verstappen likened the sport to Formula E, the all-electric series. Equally, he complained that now the winners would be those who could save energy the best, rather than the best drivers.
McLaren suggested the solution of increasing the ‘super clipping’ to the full capacity of the MGU-K – 350 kilowatts – to reduce the need for ‘lift and coast’ as well as reducing the electrical power to 250 kilowatts, which would prevent the battery from draining too quickly, and energy saving would not be required.
Verstappen seemed unsure at the prospect, telling media, including Motorsport Week: “I don’t know. I mean, it also just depends a lot on the track layout as well. So, yeah, I mean, you can reduce the power, but then of course, you also go slower in that time.
“I’m not sure I mean it’s a It’s a difficult difficult subject to actually say this is the best. You know what we have at the moment, I guess that’s why they also just want to see how it goes here, you know, in the first place, but yes, it’s all pretty complicated.”
Predictions and challengers
With racing on the horizon, there have been countless predictions of where each team will fall in the pecking order. George Russell expressed his suspicions about Red Bull, noting that its pace mysteriously dropped off from one week of testing to the next.
However, the Dutchman disagreed with Russell’s claims. “No, no, I don’t know. I don’t really think about those things,” he said. “I am just focusing on what we do here; I’m not really too bothered with what other people say.”
For the first time since 2020, Max Verstappen comes into F1 not as the World Champion, having narrowly lost to Lando Norris in 2025.
Oscar Piastri was also in the fight for the title until the final rounds; his battle was arguably lost in the second half of the season after a performance drop-off.
Verstappen was asked whether he thought Piastri would be carrying the baggage from the previous year, but he supported the McLaren driver.
“I don’t think so. I mean, he looks pretty chill, but it also depends a lot on how strong their packages are against others,” he said.
“You cannot say that what went well or went wrong last year, suddenly now. Things are gonna be different. You simply don’t know.
“I mean, especially with these new rules, the cars drive so differently that pretty much what happened last year or what a team did. Yeah, it doesn’t really matter this year. I think he’s a calm guy. He’s very fast, so just needs to do his thing.”
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