According to McLaren boss Neil Houldey, the controversial F1 rules for the 2026 season ultimately have no major impact on the ranking among drivers. The technical director of the British team believes that the best drivers will still come out on top during Grands Prix, although the new F1 regulations affect the driving style of different drivers. “At the end of the season, you see that the best drivers finish in the best positions,” Houldey thinks.
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Even before the start of the current Formula 1 season, there were concerns about the current regulations. During the test days in Bahrain, these concerns were not alleviated, and Max Verstappen even labeled the brand-new cars as ‘unworthy of Formula 1’. Complaints from drivers about the current F1 rules mainly arise on so-called ‘low-energy’ circuits. On these circuits, the ratio between corners and straights, and the type of corners, means that the new generation cars cannot recharge their batteries during the lap.
Although the current F1 car thus impacts the driving style of the drivers, McLaren boss Neil Houldey believes that the best drivers still cross the finish line first. “Actually, the drivers who understand what they have to do are the best F1 drivers in the world. And they will still be the fastest,” the boss said during a media session.
However, it has also become more difficult for these top drivers to achieve the best results with the current F1 cars, Houldey also says. “It may have changed in the sense that… it’s not just about top speed, but also about the thought processes in the background that produce that lap time,” he continues.
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Spa-Francorchamps
The technical director immediately illustrates his statements with a recent example. “If we look back at Spa, for example. Oscar indeed had a slightly different usage pattern (for the electric energy, ed.), causing him to lose a few tenths, but he was able to keep up with Lando. So you still see the difference between the good drivers and the less good drivers in the total lap time and also in the race.”
According to Houldey, despite the car, the best drivers always come out on top. “In the end, a balance naturally emerges,” said the McLaren boss. “Here and there there may be a race or a qualifying session where one driver or another is at a disadvantage, but I still think that at the end of the season you see that the best drivers finish in the best positions.”
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