Mar.6 (GMM) Max Verstappen has pushed back at GPDA director Carlos Sainz’s suggestion that Formula 1’s leadership should be approached if the 2026 regulations prove damaging to the sport.
Sainz had said he would be “the first to go and talk to Stefano Domenicali” if something goes wrong with the new rules.
But Verstappen, one of the most vocal critics of the 2026 concept – recently labelling it “Formula E on steroids” – said it is already too late for such conversations.
“We’re a bit late to the party with this,” Verstappen said in Melbourne.
“An incredible amount of money has already been invested in these rules. All of this could have been foreseen much earlier.”
One proposed fix is to limit the electrical power output to distribute energy consumption more evenly across a lap, but Verstappen is sceptical. “You can, of course, reduce the power,” he said. “But then the cars will also be slower. That’s why it’s difficult to say what the best solution really would be.”
On the opening day pecking order, Ferrari set the pace with a one-two in first practice, but Verstappen was second quickest with the new Red Bull-Ford. He was cautious about reading too much into it.
“Of course, if we look at performance, we’d like to be a bit faster, and everyone always wants to be faster, but based on what we learned from Bahrain, we weren’t the fastest,” he said.
“But hey, I have no idea. We’ll have to wait and see where we stand here.”
George Russell, widely regarded as a title favourite this season, remains unconvinced Red Bull have shown their hand. “I thought Red Bull looked suspiciously slow in the second week of testing,” the Mercedes driver said.
“They were unquestionably the fastest in the first one, and based on our data in the second test they were seven tenths of a second slower than themselves. So I find it hard to understand how they could lose seven tenths in one week.”
Verstappen, who has a famously cool relationship with Russell, was unmoved. “I don’t really think about those things,” he said.
“I just focus on what we do here, and I’m not really too bothered about what other teams do or what other people say.”
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri offered his own reading on the pecking order. “From testing it kind of feels like Mercedes and Ferrari have got a little bit on us and Red Bull, I would say.”
Charles Leclerc, who topped FP1 with Hamilton second, was asked about his Ferrari teammate’s noticeably improved mood after a difficult 2025. “Do I see Lewis in a different state? No. I think he’s just extremely excited.
“He was extremely excited last year to join the team and now he’s extremely excited about these new cars coming, as am I.”
Leclerc added his own assessment of the order. “For now it’s difficult to make predictions, but I think Mercedes is ahead and we’re a little behind with McLaren and Red Bull. We’ll quickly have the answer at the start of this weekend.”
It is also Verstappen’s first race weekend without long-time mentor Dr Helmut Marko, who retired at the end of last season. “We’ve shared a lot of moments together, so it definitely feels different in the garage,” Verstappen said with a grin.
“There are fewer Austrian jokes now. But I’m still in touch with him – not so much about the car, but just about life in general.”
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