Verstappen calls for “more pure” Formula One as he criticises complexity of 2026 Power Units
After securing third place at the Canadian Grand Prix, four‑time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen was asked whether he would like to see changes to the all‑new 2026 power units.
His answer was a passionate defence of motorsport purity — and a sharp critique of the growing complexity he believes is diluting the essence of Formula One.
Verstappen began by contrasting F1 with the other categories he has raced recently, emphasising how refreshing it felt to experience simpler, more visceral machinery: “I mean, for me, even this season, of course, I’ve been racing also different kind of cars and especially last week, that reminds me how pure motorsport can be and how great the racing can be.”
Returning to F1 after that experience highlighted the contrast: “So, yeah, when I come back into Formula 1, the thing is of course here, especially most of the drivers, we’re the best in the world. So even if you would give us a rental car, we’ll give you a good show and we’ll race each other very hard and well.”
For Verstappen, the quality of racing comes from the drivers — not the regulations: “So it has nothing to do in that sense with the rules.”
But when it comes to the driving experience, he was blunt: “But for me, while driving, yeah, it’s all a bit confusing. It’s not what Formula 1 should be about. It’s way too complex, all of this.”
He argued that fans don’t realise how many hidden rules drivers must manage: “Most of the rules, the fans don’t even know what we are dealing with while driving, what is allowed when you’re behind or when you’re the car ahead, what we have to do on a formation lap or what we have to do in an out-lap, or how much battery that we’re allowed to charge.”
For Verstappen, this complexity is a fundamental problem: “All these things are just such a shame that we have to deal with all these things.”
He hopes the planned 2026 revisions will simplify the sport: “And, yeah, for me F1 just needs to be more pure and I really hope that what they try to do next year will go through because I think that is necessary, the minimum necessary, to make it a bit more natural and a bit more back to normal, or at least a bit more pure racing.”
Still, Verstappen stressed that great racing comes from the drivers, not the machinery: “But like I said, as drivers, give us any kind of car, we’ll always race and give a good entertainment or a good show.”
He dismissed the idea that recent close racing is proof the rules are working: “Doesn’t matter, people say, ‘Oh, but look now, the show is great, the cars were fighting,’ but it has nothing to do with the car. It just needs to be more pure.”
