Max Verstappen and Lando Norris remain critical of the sport following rules overhaul.

It is a fact that one of the biggest contributors to F1's coffers is Sky Sports, which has broadcast rights around the world not only in the UK. With subscriptions due to rise next month, it would be economic suicide for members of the Sky F1 team to talk down the sport, consequently viewers were constantly bombarded with claims about how great today's race was, with its battles throughout the field from lights to flag and a veritable overtaking fest.

True, there were plenty of passes, but most were either courtesy of the push of a button or the need to harvest energy, there were few, if any, of the Daniel 'King of the Late Brakers' Ricciardo type moves, no smoking tyres as one driver sought to out-brake a rival.

Despite having the fastest cars, both Mercedes drivers had difficult starts due to battery levels, George Russell admitting that he "had nothing in the tank", while local hero Oscar Piastri crashed out before the race had even begun, the McLaren driver subsequently revealing that he "had about 100kW extra power that I didn't expect", helpfully adding that this "is not insignificant".

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen who have made no secret of their dislike of the new generation of rules, remain unconvinced.

"It's chaos," said the Briton, referring to energy management and the vast difference in speeds depending on whether a driver is storing energy or releasing it, "you're going to have a big accident, which is a shame. You're driving and we're the ones just waiting for something to happen and something to go quite horribly wrong.

"It's not a nice position to be in," he continued, "but there's nothing we can really do about that now. It's a shame, it's very artificial, depending on what the power unit decides to do and randomly does at times. You just get overtaken by five cars or you can just do nothing about it sometimes.

"There's nothing we can change about it, so there's no point in saying any more. But depending on what people do, you can have 30, 40, 50 kph speeds," he continued. "When someone hits someone at that speed, you're going to fly and you're going to go over the fence and you're going to do a lot of damage to yourself and maybe to others. That's a pretty horrible thing to think about."

"I love racing," said Verstappen, but we can only take so much, right? I think they are willing to listen, FIA and F1, I just hope of course that there is some action.

"I mean it's not that I'm the only one saying it, a lot are saying it, it's drivers, fans... we just want the best for the sport," he insisted. "It's not like we are critical just to be critical, we are critical for a reason, we want it to be F1, proper F1 on steroids, today that of course was again not the case."

Asked if the sport should be concerned at the likes of he and others turning their backs and walking away from F1, he said: "I think what they should worry about is the rules, just focus on that.

"They ask questions, and I give my opinions on what I would like to see, and what I think is better for the sport because I do care about it, I love racing, and I want it to be better than this, right?

"Let's see what we can do," he added. "I hope that even maybe during this year we can come up with some different solutions so it becomes more enjoyable for everyone."

However, as far as the Sky team are concerned, today's race was the first instalment of what is going to be the best season ever.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Redphyve, 5 minutes ago

"@Chris Balfe

I got taken in my a dummy account. The posts and tweets I had been reading were NOT by the McLaren Team lead but by a dummy account. Even so, finding the REAL account conformed much of what Chris has said in the past.

My apologies. I should have checked before speaking.
"

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2. Posted by ffracer, 39 minutes ago

"Thank you. This article felt incredibly therapeutic to read, like sweet vindication for paraphrasing our utter shock and betrayal at having to listen to that disgusting Sky broadcast of that joke commentary of David Croft and that turncoat hasbeen Martin Brundle - I lost respect for him back in '83 when he never stood up to Ayrton Senna's bullying in F3 then, I would have beat the snot out of him and in front of that cheerleader and F3 team owner Dick Bennetts- but this shared vitriol on how great F1 2026 was is an all-time low. My kids and I could only stomach barely 20 laps before shutting off the TV, all of us in a rage like gilted lovers. This was our last F1 race, I had been watching since the late 70s, celebrating my religion... until the FIA do something drastic and unconventional.

My humble suggestion: Revert back to 2025- rules, cars, powertrain units and tires - until proper F1 engine regs are agreed by a nominated joint force of respected engineers, team owners (max 3), past and current F1 champions and race winners (unlimited), celebrated journalists ( nominated by their colleagues, Max of 12, and 12 absolutely psychotic F1 fans, after submitting their consise email explaining background and future strategies- chosen by a small 3 team owner, 3 driver and 6 journalist panel - all charged with expediting a F1 strategy forward, one that would celebrate the history with a pure fu@&!#$ motor!!"

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3. Posted by Editor, 1 hour ago

"@ Redphyve

Since you ask.

Yesterday, a tweet posted by the official @F1 account was community noted on Twitter. The community note read: F1 is actively censoring the fans' opinion about the new regulations, as seen in "hidden replies".

The official F1 Twitter/A account was effectively hiding any negative responses – and there were many - to its tweet in which it claimed “Action EVERYWHERE you looked” along with a picture suggesting there had been 120 overtakes yesterday compared to 45 in 2025.

I believe that this type of action, censoring criticism, denying controversy, as seen with DTS and the official F1 website, is the sort of thing Mr Brown would fully support.

You see, Zak is a salesman, clearly a very successful salesman, and that is what he does, sell.

Personally, it galls me when he talks of McLaren’s history and tradition, using the terms “us” and “we”, when the reality is that in the long history of the team he has effectively only really been a bit player.

The team is owned by various consortia in the Middle East and Zak is a paid employee, unlike Ron Dennis he has never invested a single penny/dime in the operation."

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4. Posted by Superbird70, 11 hours ago

"Lerclerc's comment,'"This is like the mushroom in Mario Kart," the Monegasque driver said over the team radio.'

That pretty much sums it up.

F1 has become a joke.

I asked this before. Does anyone think this circus is worth more now than 365 days ago?
All we are missing are Boudica spikes on the wheels."

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5. Posted by Redphyve, 12 hours ago

"
On X/Twitter, Zak Brown had some interesting things to say pre-pace on Saturday and post-race today.

I'd post a link but I think it is frowned upon here? It does make for an interesting opinion.

I'd like to hear what our esteemed Editor thinks of Mr Brown's thoughts."

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6. Posted by Celtic Tiger, 13 hours ago

"The artificial yo-yoing between Russell and Leclerc felt like I was watching one of those turn-based RPG video games I used to play as a kid. It wasn't racing, it was more of a racing pantomime and it didn't sit right with me at all. I'm sure it will be even more obvious with the long back straight in Shanghai. As for the Sky pundits, I view them in the same way I view the "commentators" in WWE. They'd only be impartial or critical is the script calls for it. It's just another fake thing to add to the growing list. "

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7. Posted by BillH, 17 hours ago

"Maybe I'm suffering from Grumpy Old Man Syndrome.
The biggest problem with the current rules is that it's created super artificial situation.
Fake One instead of Formula One.
F3, F2, SuperCars was all entertaining, particularly SuperCars, as "tin tops" often are.
IndyCar was also on this past weekend and even with it's push to pass and hybrid seemed more genuine.

Fake One even has a name for the bollocks of running out of battery, Super Clipping.
Sounds more like a close hair cut.
And as for how Fake One has ended up in this situation, the role of Motor racing (yes Motor with a capital M) is not to save the planet one electric "sustainable" fuelled lap at a time.
If F1 wants to entice more manufacturers the the "sport", lower the costs by simplifying the regulations to ICE only and let the weird manufacturers go to Formula E.
At the moment, trying to understand what the heck is going on with regeneration, deployment, boost button, super clipping, active aero to explain what would have been in the past "he out braked him...", is now "he has a lot of sweets from the sweet shop and if he eats them all now he won't have any for later" or something like that I heard on the commentary.
At this rate I'm not sure even Drive to Survive will be able to keep F1 as popular as it was last year.
Roll on Nascar."

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8. Posted by Chester, 17 hours ago

"@Anthony. I found myself missing DRS. "

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9. Posted by Anthony, 18 hours ago

"Ah yes the Sky team….. David Croft is appalling and Martin Brundle seemed to lose any sense of impartial commentary some time ago.

I wasn’t a great fan of DRS but a push button to overtake really is just taking the mickey particularly if the car ahead is having to decelerate to recharge the battery. The big question is whether F1 can do anything about it during the middle of the season. "

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10. Posted by KKK, 18 hours ago

"Best season ever? If this is the first race of this season and the remaining 25 odd are the same, sky sport will have no subscribers. It wasn't a race, it's not a drivers championship any more, it's a joke"

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Drivers remain critical of F1 2026

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