No more hybrid engines!

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Red Bull driver and reigning F1 World Champion Max Verstappen watches from the garage during qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix. Styria, June 2023. Credit: Alamy

Max Verstappen has doubled down on his criticism of F1’s planned rule changes for the 2026 season, saying he would get rid of hybrid engines for good if he were in charge of the sport.

Verstappen spoke out against the 2026 regulations after winning the Austrian Grand Prix last weekend, saying the new cars looked pretty terrible from what he had seen in Red Bulls simulations.

The reigning world champion claimed drivers would downgrade even if they were flat out on the long Monza straights, and expressed fears that F1 could become an engine formula with a massive development war.

Additional reporting by Sam Cooper

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Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at Silverstone ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, Verstappen argued that the 2026 cars will likely require a similar counter-intuitive driving style to the days of the blown broadcasters between 2009 and 2013, when Red Bull stormed to four consecutive titles with Sebastian Vettel.

And with innovations such as active aerodynamics potentially on the way too, he called on competitors to put what’s best for the sport above their own ambitions.

He said: It’s just not fair, I think, that you have to drive the car like that.

And also the way the engine brakes stays almost flat, I think that’s just going to create [a] very weird atmosphere, it’s a bit like with blown diffusers, just flat almost.

To me it looks very weird and also with the active aero regulating itself it feels a bit weird. I think that’s really complicating a lot of things.

And, on the engine side, as I said at the press conference last time, we really have to look at it carefully. But I also know that people think they will have an advantage, so they will say the regulations are good.

I think from my side, just looking at him as a racing driver, it looks wrong. But you always have these policies in Formula 1 where a team thinks: we can take advantage of this.

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They’ll say it’s great, but at the end of the day we really have to look at what’s good for the sport and I think right now, with the way it looks, I don’t think it’s good for the sport.

When asked if Verstappens’ other drivers shared his concerns, he replied: Yeah, I just don’t know how many are actually fully aware of his appearance.

Despite his personal aversion to rules, Verstappen is taking an active role in Red Bull Powertrains’ preparations for 2026 when the Milton Keynes-based operation will partner with Ford and has been encouraged by what he has seen so far. team present.

I think it is a very interesting project and for me it is also very important to know what is happening also for my future within the team, he explained.

This all sounds very promising. Of course, going up against all these manufacturers is going to be very difficult, but the signs are good, but now we have to try to deliver.

I think we started at the right time, we are ahead of schedule, but in [another] track 26 is just around the corner.

There is still a lot to do, but I think we are on the right track, but because we have to keep pushing hard to be able to deliver a very powerful engine.

Verstappen was then asked what he would do if the new F1 rules were entirely up to him and he started by saying he would immediately ditch the unloved V6 hybrid engines used in F1 since 2014.

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He said: These [current] the cars are, of course, incredibly fast. Of course, I always liked the 2020/21 cars, they were a bit more agile, a bit more fun, but they were also very heavy.

I would definitely get rid of the hybrid. I think all the time, when I jump back in a V8 [car]I’m still surprised at how smooth the engine is.

Top speed is slow compared to what we have now, but that’s just the pick up of the engine, the torque is so smooth, the whole process of delivery, downshifts, upshifts. So much more natural than what we have now.

Of course the safety standards have to go up and they have to get better, that’s why the cars are getting heavier and heavier, to make the chassis stronger, all those sorts of things, so that naturally [an impact].

We can’t go back to 500/550 kilos, but I think where we are now is way too heavy and we have to look into that.

Also I think those big tires you don’t really see much when you come into corners in terms of reaching a top so I prefer the smaller tires than I thought [that era] was much more fun.

So a lot of things I would change. I would make the cars much more draggy so you don’t have to rely on DRS too much.

And again, with these new cars for 26, they seem to have a lot less drag again, so overtaking will be even harder as well.

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Max Verstappen article doubles down on F1 2026 rules critique: Get rid of hybrid engines! appeared first on Planetf1.com.

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