Verstappen Warns F1 Must Change Power Units Or Risk Losing Him

Max Verstappen has issued a stark warning to Formula 1, saying the series must significantly change its power units for 2026 if he is to remain in the championship.
The Red Bull driver has been one of the loudest critics of F1’s 2026 regulations, voicing his concerns ahead of and after the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
Verstappen competed in the Nuerburgring 24 Hours before the Canadian Grand Prix weekend and said the experience highlighted the contrast between GT racing and modern Formula 1.
“The thing is, I know how pure other motor sports can feel like,” he told Sky. “So then when you come back to this, it’s just not very nice.”
Verstappen elaborated on what he found lacking in the current Formula 1 package, pointing specifically to qualifying as a particular area of concern for him.
“I don’t want to be too negative now after a race like this, but I know what it feels like to drive pure racing cars: pure overtakes, pure racing and just natural driving.”
He continued: “This is all a bit, especially qualifying, very anti-driving, anti-racing and that’s not what Formula 1 should be about. So I really hope that next year we can get that 60-40 because that will naturally help everything a bit.”
Despite his frustrations with the broader direction of the championship, Verstappen still delivered a strong result at the Canadian Grand Prix, finishing third on the podium.
He started the race from sixth on the grid and admitted the final podium position came as a surprise, particularly given the competitive nature of the field ahead of him.
“Of course because of the retirement of George, normally the two Mercedes cars would have taken off. But for us of course [it’s a] positive result,” he said.
Verstappen finished behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton, registering what the article describes as his best result of the season to that point.
He reflected on the tyre performance throughout the race, identifying the medium compound as the stint where his car struggled to operate within the required performance window.
“I think on the soft [tyre] we were a little bit more competitive, on the medium I just couldn’t generate the tyre temp[erature] that we needed around here and that didn’t give us the good feeling on the tyres,” Verstappen explained.
“They were just never really gripping, they were never in the window, and I think that’s why on that stint it was just a bit more difficult for us.”
He closed his assessment of the Montreal race on a positive note, acknowledging the podium as a meaningful step for the team despite the ongoing challenges with the car.
“Nevertheless, I think we had a good result for us to be on the podium,” Verstappen added, summarising a weekend that balanced personal frustration with a competitive performance on race day.
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