Fernando Alonso says F1 drivers already can’t wait for new engines in 2030

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Fernando Alonso has offered his latest scathing critique of the 2026 F1 regulations at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Along with Max Verstappen, Alonso has been the biggest opponent of the new rules up to this point. The 44-year-old is the most experienced driver in F1 history with 430 starts to his name.

From the outset, Alonso was calling F1 a battery world championship, suggesting that the rule changes had reduced the emphasis on driver skill and created an artificial form of racing.

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Fernando Alonso: ‘We are not meant to criticise’ the F1 rules

Alonso qualified on the back row of the grid for Sunday’s Monaco GP, seven-tenths slower than the time he needed to reach Q2.

Given his age – he turns 45 next month – there’s a growing risk that Alonso’s career peters out at the back of the field, even if he doesn’t currently intend to retire in 2026.

It’s highly unlikely that Alonso will still be racing when the next generation of cars arrives in either 2030 or 2031. F1 is considering a return to V8 engines, last used between 2006 and 2013.

For Alonso, it’s telling that, six races into a new rules cycle, there is already so much talk about the sport going in a different direction. He claims that every driver is aligned on the current cars, even if some aren’t comfortable speaking out publicly.

“The generation of these cars is…they are not good,” said Alonso, a two-time world champion, via The Race.

“Obviously, we are not meant to criticise anything. Some are more public, some less public. But we are talking about changing the engine for next year and changing the engine for 2030 on race six.

“So that tells you, no one is happy with the current cars. If they are more publicly [outspoken] or not, it’s their own decision.”

Max Verstappen says ‘I felt like myself again’ driving 2026 cars around Monaco

Given that the average speed at Monaco is the lowest of the season, the focus on the much-maligned energy management has been temporarily reduced. This led to a far more positive take from Verstappen, who qualified at the opposite end of the grid to Alonso (P2).

“I think the chassis regulation is not that bad at all,” he said. “In general, the cars being a little bit more narrow and stuff, I think it’s alright.

“Of course, if you can go flat out and you can just select the gears that you want to use in the corners [rather than downshifting to harvest energy], it’s always going to be better.

“So, I finally felt just myself again in the car, let’s say like that, with the way you want to use the gears. Unfortunately, of course, we can’t do that in too many places on the calendar, but that’s what then makes it more and more natural to drive for sure.”