Max Verstappen's concerns about the 2026 F1 cars have been met with skepticism, but his father, Jos Verstappen, is standing by his son's side. In an interview with Viaplay, Jos revealed that Max had been raising issues about the new regulations even before the start of the season. "Max was speaking about this two or three years ago," Jos said. "He saw some data, but everybody was laughing at him at that time. [They were saying] 'Max was negative', and things like that."
Max's criticism of the cars as "Formula E on steroids" and "anti-racing" during pre-season testing was met with derision, but Jos believes his son's concerns are valid. "Now they have the regulations there, everybody can see it. So they should listen a little bit more to the drivers. But they don't," he said.
The new regulations have introduced changes to aerodynamics and power units, and drivers now need to heavily manage energy harvesting and deployment, which heavily dictates lap time. This has led to issues such as the starting procedure and wheel-to-wheel racing, which drivers have mentioned across pre-season testing.
Max has suggested that these headaches could have been avoided if the decision-makers had sought input from the drivers. "I understand, drivers shouldn't decide everything," he said. "But when it comes to quite some logical things about racing, or at least that we can give advice, we can even jump in the simulator and test stuff, you'll figure out stuff that is bad."
Jos believes that the FIA and F1 need to recognize the importance of drivers in decision-making processes. "That's where sometimes F1 or the FIA, they are not understanding how important a driver can be in decisions," he said. "And this is the part most people miss."
The controversy surrounding Max's concerns highlights the tension between innovation and tradition in F1. While some may dismiss Max's criticism as negative, others may see it as a valuable contribution to the sport. The question remains: will F1 and the FIA listen to the drivers' concerns and make the necessary changes to improve the sport?
