FORMULA E ON STEROIDS: WHAT EXACTLY DID MAX VERSTAPPEN MEAN BY HIS JOKE?
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton deliver a scathing verdict on F1's 2026 cars in Bahrain. Is the "energy management" era a mistake?
Max Verstappen didn’t hold back when talking about F1’s new cars. He called them “anti-racing” and even joked they feel like “Formula E on steroids.”
The big change for 2026? The cars will rely a lot more on energy management because of new power units that split power about 50-50 between the combustion engine and electric parts. Verstappen’s just not a fan of all this battery recharging. For him, it kills the fun.
Reporters in Bahrain asked him what he thought about the new cars, and he got right to the point: “Not a lot of fun, to be honest. The right word is management.” He said driving them doesn’t feel like Formula 1 at all. “It feels a bit more like Formula E on steroids,” he said.
He admitted the rules are the same for everyone, so it’s fair in that sense, and he’s fine with a level playing field. But as a driver, he misses pushing flat out. Right now, you just can’t do that. There’s too much going on. Every little thing a driver does now has a huge impact on energy, and Verstappen doesn’t think that’s what Formula 1 should be about.
He even joked, “Maybe it’s better to drive Formula E, right? That series is all about energy management. That’s their thing.” As for driving, he just doesn’t find it much fun anymore. But he also knows what’s at stake for the team, especially with their own engine project, and he sees how excited everyone is behind the scenes.
“When I get in the car, I’ll always give it my best. They know that,” he said. “But honestly, the excitement just isn’t there.”
Last year, Verstappen made his sportscar debut, and he’s already hinted he could walk away from F1 if the 2026 cars don’t bring back the enjoyment.
He’s not alone in his criticism. Lewis Hamilton also slammed the new rules, calling them “ridiculously complex” and worrying they’ll actually make the cars slower than F2.
Hamilton pointed out, “If you look at Barcelona, we’re doing 600 metres of lift and coast on a qualifying lap. That’s not racing. Here in Bahrain, we don’t have to do that because of all the braking zones.”
He explained that the low gears drivers have to use now are just a way to recover more battery power. “We can’t recover enough, so we’re going down to first and second gear in some places just to squeeze out that extra bit of energy.”
In short, the sport’s biggest names just aren’t buying into the new direction — and they’re not shy about saying so.
FRED VASSEUR REJECTS TEAM ORDERS AS FERRARI DRIVERS DUEL CLEANLY IN SHANGHAI
Lewis Hamilton secures his first Ferrari podium at the Chinese GP as Fred Vasseur praises his drivers' clean racing.
Fred Vasseur felt pretty good about Ferrari’s performance in the Chinese Grand Prix, especially the way his drivers fought each other so cleanly, even though, as he admitted, it could’ve ended up looking like a disaster.
Ferrari started the race in third and fourth, and, right from the get-go, both drivers didn’t hold back. They actually got ahead of the Mercedes for a bit, but it didn't last; they ended up getting passed again. In those early laps, the two Ferraris were stuck between the Mercedes cars: Kimi Antonelli stretched his lead while George Russell stayed glued to their tails.
Lewis Hamilton led George Russell early on, and those two swapped places a bunch of times. Ferrari’s drivers did, too. There were moments when they went side by side, pushing the absolute limit, without ever making contact. Honestly, they kept at it almost the entire race. The last big move happened on Lap 40. Hamilton passed Leclerc and held onto third place, finally putting a red car on the podium for the first time this year.
Even with all that fighting, both Ferraris came home without a scratch. The drivers both said they had a blast; it was tough, hard racing, but always clean.
Vasseur, who runs the show at Ferrari, was quick to praise them. “Huge respect for both of them,” he told the press. “They’re total pros, and it just made sense to let them race. Sure, sometimes you risk looking stupid if things go wrong, but that’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
He was clear about his philosophy early in the season: you’ve got to let the drivers race. No team orders from the pit wall, just a chance to let them build up the team spirit by pushing each other. “This is how you make real progress,” Vasseur said. “As long as they race like they did today, I won’t freeze the positions. Even on the radio, they were telling us they were having fun.”
Once Hamilton got past Leclerc on Lap 40, the order was set. Hamilton got his first podium for Ferrari, which was huge even if his first season with them had been tough so far. Vasseur wasn’t worried, though.
“It’s so much easier the second year,” Vasseur explained. “He’s been part of the project for a while now; he started working with us as far back as mid-2025, doing simulator runs. He’s got more of a stake in this now compared to when he just turned up last January, and the car was already built. He knows everyone better, and working with the team is just smoother.”
But Vasseur knows Ferrari still has a big gap to Mercedes. The team has shown some solid pace in these first two races, but closing that gap will take time. “We’ve got to keep chipping away with those small gains, that’s how we’ll catch up.”
Right now, Ferrari’s battles out on track aren’t causing any problems. As the season goes on, though, Vasseur’s going to have to keep a lid on any tension because the championship’s heating up. Ferrari trails Mercedes by 31 points, and Leclerc and Hamilton are both chasing Russell for the drivers’ title, sitting 17 and 18 points behind.
If Ferrari’s going to have any shot at beating Mercedes, they’ll need to be on it every step of the way and stay ready to jump if their rivals make a mistake.
MCLAREN FACE RELIABILITY CRISIS AFTER LANDO NORRIS AND OSCAR PIASTRI MISS CHINESE GRAND PRIX
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri suffer a double DNS at the Chinese GP due to Mercedes' power unit electrical failures.
McLaren’s hoping to turn things around after a rough weekend in China; both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri couldn’t even start the race on Sunday. For Norris, it’s the first time he’s ever sat out a race since he joined F1. Piastri’s probably even more frustrated that he hasn’t managed a single lap in two races this season. He crashed on his way to the grid back in Australia, and this time, both he and Norris ran into electrical issues with the Mercedes power unit. There just wasn’t enough time to fix anything.
It’s been a long time since things went this sideways for McLaren. The last time both cars missed the start was that weird 2005 U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis, when only six cars raced because of the Michelin tyre fiasco.
Oscar Piastri’s still trying to wrap his head around it all. Team boss Andrea Stella summed it up, saying, "It’s tough for Oscar. He still hasn’t started a race this campaign, and you can imagine that’s not easy to handle. But honestly, the guys are keeping their heads up."
He said the team’s gone through crazier stuff. The past season was a big step forward; they developed what they call a ‘winner’s mindset’ inside the team. Last year, when McLaren bagged the double championship, Stella said their real victory wasn’t in Abu Dhabi but in Qatar and Vegas. That’s where they held it together, even when things got messy.
Remember Qatar? Piastri lost a win because the team botched the strategy. Vegas wasn’t any better; both cars got disqualified for a technical issue right after crossing the line in second and fourth.
Stella gets it; you have to tough out these moments. He thinks every setback helps build the team into real champions. He sees that attitude in Piastri, Norris, and pretty much everyone on the crew right now.
He also pointed out that the problems in China weren’t the same in both cars. It just happened that they affected the same component. Pretty lousy luck, really, and not something McLaren could control this early in the season. Stella called it ‘exceptional and uncharacteristic’ for both cars to fail at once, especially for the same part. The team’s working with Mercedes’ High Performance Powertrains to pick it apart and see what’s what. Once they dig deeper, maybe they'll find out if anything on McLaren’s side played a role. But for now, it just stings.
