Max Verstappen gives his first judgment on the F1 regulation changes. The FIA implemented the first regulation adjustments for 2026 before the GP Miami. After qualifying, however, the world champion concludes that these do not go far enough yet: ‘If you give more gas in certain corners, it still slows down on the straight’. Verstappen also immediately offers a potential solution to that problem.
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Max Verstappen was one of the loudest critics of the Formula 1 regulations for 2026. The Dutchman even previously compared it to Mario Kart and Formula E. The FIA decided to implement regulation changes after the GP Japan, which come into effect for the first time during the Grand Prix weekend in Miami. After qualifying, Verstappen is asked about regulation adjustments, with a particular focus on changes to the qualifying session.
The Dutch world champion is not entirely satisfied yet. “If you give more gas in certain corners, it still slows down on the straight,” he explains to the media present in Miami. “We really need to get rid of that.” Whether this can still be abolished this season, Verstappen doubts. “That will be difficult on certain circuits. Hopefully, they can take another step for next year: more engine power and less battery. Then you can get that better.”
Engine power
However, the regulation changes do not affect Verstappen’s driving pleasure, he reveals further. “The rules they have adjusted don’t make much difference to the overall driving pleasure. But you know: the car itself is quite fine, you can race reasonably well with it. We just need to move away a bit from that 55/45 ratio (the distribution between the combustion engine and the battery, ed.). It should at least go back to how it was a bit in the previous regulation. That you are just at 75 or 80 percent engine power. If we can possibly move towards that, that would be very nice.”
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However, Verstappen does not see engine power increasing to eighty percent before 2027. “It’s always a political story, because everyone always thinks they can gain an advantage somewhere, or not,” he explains why. “But I just think about how we can make the sport better. It just shouldn’t be that if you go full throttle longer through a corner, which gains you time, you then get penalized on the straight. We need to get rid of that.”
“The criticism of the regulations remains the same,” the Red Bull driver concludes. “It doesn’t matter if I’m second or eighth, but for myself and for the driving feel, it’s of course a bit nicer now. It just still needs to be further resolved.”
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Read everything about the GP Miami here
