Max Verstappen recently made headlines after slating the new regulations for the 2026 F1 season, and two-time Drivers' Champion Fernando Alonso has now shared similar sentiments.
The Aston Martin driver elaborated on the issues with energy deployment and how the new cars are forcing drivers to save energy through corners to go faster on straights. For him, that ultimately lessens the driving and racing experience.
"Here in Bahrain has been historically [turns] 10-12, a very challenging corner," the Spaniard said. "So you used to choose your downforce level to go 10-12 just flat, so you remove downforce until you are in 10-12 just flat with new tyres."
"It was a driver skill, decisive factor to go fast in a lap time. Now in 10-12 we are like 50 kph slower because we don't want to waste energy there and we want to have all on the straights, so to do 10-12 instead of 260 at 200 [kph], you can drive the car," Alonso continued. "The chef can drive the car in 10-12 at that speed, but you don't want to waste energy because you want to have it on the straight."
"I understand Max's comments, because from a driver, you would like to make the difference in the corner, driving those five kilometers faster. But now you are dictated by how much energy your engine will have on the next straight," he added. "At the same time, this is F1, and it has been always like that."
It's a damning assessment from yet another Drivers' Champion that comes after similar concerns were expressed by Ferrari teammates Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
"None of the fans are going to understand it, I don’t think," Hamilton, a 7-time Champion, recently pointed out. "It’s so complex. It’s ridiculously complex. I sat in a meeting the other day and they’re taking us through it and it’s like you need a degree to fully understand it all."
He shared, "If you look at Barcelona, for example, we’re doing 600 metres lift and coast on a qualifying lap. That’s not what racing is about."
Leclerc had a slightly more measured response, revealing that he believes it will be more difficult to overtake in the 2026 F1 season (the whole point of these sweeping new regulations was to make the cars more capable of racing).
At this point, it's too late to change this year's cars. We could, however, see more big changes heading into 2027...