Formula E co-founder urges Formula 1 to ‘return to what it was’ after hearing Max Verstappen’s fury

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Formula E’s Alberto Longo is quite surprised that Formula 1 has chosen to incorporate many of their key facets through these new regulations.

While Mercedes and Ferrari drivers have been enjoying racing under the new regulations this season, the same cannot be said for the rest of the drivers on the grid.

Lando Norris dubbed the new regulations ‘artificial’ after the Australian Grand Prix, as the defending champion struggled to adapt to the new circumstances.

Is Lando Norris’ championship title defence already over?

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Echoing similar sentiments, Max Verstappen labelled the new regulations a joke. Interestingly, it is the four-time world champion’s comments that have sparked the most discourse over this matter.

But now, Formula E co-founder Alberto Longo has shown his agreement with Max Verstappen, calling for a change in the new F1 regulations.

READ MORE: Max Verstappen has never been so ‘downbeat’ about his Red Bull F1 car after Chinese Grand Prix

Alberto Longo pleads with Formula 1 to reverse course on new regulations

Alberto Longo, the co-founder of Formula E, spoke with Spanish outlet Diario AS about the recent change in F1 regulations.

Seeing Formula 1 go in a more hybrid-oriented direction, Longo called for the sport to correct course, as they were replicating Formula E’s approach and simultaneously upsetting their top drivers.

“Frankly, I don’t really understand what Formula 1 is doing, and I say it openly… I don’t understand why F1 is increasingly pulling a little more towards our way of racing”.

“(I have) the certainty that F1 will return to what it was. This hybrid F1 makes no sense, which offers the type of racing that we have been doing for 12 years.”

“It is being a bit complex for them, not even the drivers are understanding it, and there we see the criticism from top drivers.”

“Hearing Verstappen talk like this about his own championship is something that F1 cannot consent to, so I understand that it will reverse, they will return to combustion and be loyal to the way they race”.

READ MORE: The FIA now disagrees with Max Verstappen’s proposed changes for the 2026 F1 regulations

Would Max Verstappen be complaining about F1’s 2026 regulations if he had joined Mercedes?

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Alberto Longo defends Formula E’s niche in motorsport amid F1 regulations concern

Longo spoke further about Formula E’s concerns with the new regulations in Formula 1, and how they try to offer an alternative to racing fans.

“When we created this championship (in 2014), we did it with the intention of attracting new people to this sport with races that had never been seen before.”

“With these new regulations, two different leagues are coming together in the same type of races, of energy efficiency and not pure performance, which are the ones that historically have been appreciated by racing fans. We offer a completely different thing.”

Verstappen has tried to convince the FIA to make changes to these regulations, but so far, there is no word on how well those complaints have been received.

The FIA is likely to convene during the upcoming five-week pause in the 2026 season due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Perhaps they make some changes to the new regulations, or at least tweaks to quell both fan and driver concern.