– Is the “new” Formula 1 really as bad as many make it out to be? Several drivers, including Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso, have already complained publicly several times that many corners are no longer a challenge under the new regulations.
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“As I have said many times, the high-speed corners are now degenerating into mere charging stations for the car,” said Alonso during the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka. The driver can no longer make a difference here, according to the Spaniard.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is torn regarding such criticism. On the one hand, he points out that the cars in Japan were not that much slower than in previous years. In fact, Kimi Antonelli’s 2026 pole time there was 1:28.778 minutes.
Although Max Verstappen was around 1,8 seconds faster in his 2025 pole lap (1:26.983). In 2022, when the regulations at the time were also completely new, Verstappen’s pole time was only 1:29.304 – and was therefore even slower than this year.
“But you just do it with more power and more speed on the straights,” Wolff explains to Sky. In the corners, on the other hand, the new cars are slower – or rather, they have to drive slower to charge the battery.
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“If it were up to me,” says Wolff, this problem in qualifying must indeed be brought under control. In qualifying, it must come down to “that one fast, brutal lap,” which is why “lift-and-coast” must be reduced there.
Nevertheless, the Mercedes team principal also makes it clear that the new regulations should not be demonized immediately because of such flaws. People tend to “think nostalgically,” says Wolff. In fact, for example, the 130R in Suzuka has not been a challenge for a long time anyway.
“[Mercedes reserve driver] Fred Vesti just told me that the 130R has been a one-handed corner for many years. So it’s no longer a corner that requires courage,” Wolff reveals, emphasizing that even under the old regulations, the corner could easily be taken at full throttle.
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Nevertheless, one must look at what can be done to make Formula 1 qualifying in particular more spectacular again.
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