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Martin Brundle was taken aback by how quickly and sharply some F1 drivers turned on the new 2026 regulations.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen has been the most prominent critic so far, even threatening to retire from the sport at the end of the year, but he certainly hasn’t been alone.
Fernando Alonso, another legend of the sport, has called F1 a ‘battery world championship’, while title holder Lando Norris said in Australia that these were ‘the worst’ cars ever.
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Martin Brundle on F1 drivers ‘trashing’ the new rules
Writing in his post-Miami column for Sky Sports, Brundle acknowledged that the start of F1’s new era had been mixed. There were some thrilling battles at the front of the field, but also safety concerns, chiefly stemming from Oliver Bearman’s Japanese GP crash with Franco Colapinto.
What’s more, Verstappen and co. have suggested that the sport isn’t staying true to its DNA. Drivers are no longer able to push flat out in qualifying due to the quirks of energy management.
Brundle’s verdict on the new rules after three races was ‘good, could do better’, but he was surprised to see key figures in the paddock ‘trash’ the spectacle.
He wrote: “The opening three races of the season in Australia, China, and Japan were interesting and engaging in places and uncomfortably controversial in others, as the dramatically altered new cars struggled to gel.”
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“Key drivers and other observers were remarkably ready to trash the show.”
Juan Pablo Montoya even called for Verstappen to receive penalty points for allegedly showing a lack of ‘respect’ in his comments, but the sport’s bosses haven’t shown any inclination to punish dissenting voices.
Some drivers, including the Mercedes pair and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, have been more positive about the rules, though there may be a correlation between sentiment and results.
What Martin Brundle still doesn’t understand about the new rules
One common criticism of the new formula is that it’s difficult for fans to fully understand what’s happening, whether they’re watching from home or the grandstands.
Even Brundle, a former F1 driver who has been a pundit since the late 1990s, can’t understand the back-and-forth nature of the racing. In Miami, McLaren told Norris over the radio that Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc would ‘yo-yo’ up ahead.
He thinks that viewers and indeed commentators need more information on screen to explain why drivers are struggling to retain positions.
Referencing Antonelli taking the lead on lap four, he said: “I predicted in commentary that he would ‘check out’, expecting him to build a lead.
“But that’s former F1, because by lap six he was back in third place and if I’m honest, I don’t completely understand why. It’s clearly about power management, and once you’re in front you lose the ‘overtake mode’ which gives more battery recharge and top speed for longer, and unless you can be more than a second in front of your pursuers they will likely catch you back.
“It’s been explained to me that an overtake is never really finished until the end of the lap because you can get greedy with power usage to take a position but pay the price later. I fully get that, and I rather like the wheel-to-wheel action and skill involved in carrying speed better than your rivals to outsmart them.
“It’s the relatively easily steaming back past in subsequent laps which needs more understanding and better graphics and information. We’ll sort it out.”
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