Max Verstappen is one of the most straight talking amongst the F1 drivers, he says what he thinks and is a dream for the F1 media. The world champion was heavily criticised for his defensive moves against Lando Norris in Austria last year when the pair collided, yet he defended his driving style as within the rules.

Again at the US Grand Prix, he and Norris found themselves arguing over the same piece of track at the end of the long back straight. Norris in fact overtook the Red Bull; drover, but Max knew the rules stated if he claimed the apex of the corner first, he had the right to use all the track on exit regardless of where Norris’ McLaren was positioned.

In the run up to the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem had called on his race stewards to clamp down on bad language used by the drivers, suggesting they were more like rappers than professionals sportsmen. At the opening FIA press conference of the weekend on Thursday, Verstappen described how his car had felt at the previous race weekend in Baku as follows: “As soon as I went into qualifying, I knew the car was fucked.”

 

 

 

Max and Ben the best of ‘friends’

The compliant  stewards duskily obliged Ben Sulayem by making an example of Verstappen and hitting him with ` headline grabbing ‘community service’ punishment rather than the regular €5,000 fine. The Red Bull driver resounded predictably by refusing to answer questions in the FIA press event following the race on Sunday, and even told the assembled reporters he would hold his own press conference after the approved event.

So Max and Ben Sulayem are not the closest of allies, yet now the world champion has praised the FIA president for his position on the next generation of F1 engines. The hatred V6 turbo hybrids were the result of Mercedes and Porsche pressing for them to be retained from 2026, but their bulk and lack of sound has turned F1 fans off for more than a decade.

F1 supremo at the time suggested for the second year of these new monsters, the engineers build in ‘fake sound’ to make them more appealing to race fans who were used to the screaming V8’s hitting almost 20,000 revs. Yet with F1 wishing to remain ‘road car relevant’ the decision was taken to back Mercedes and Porsche for the new power units coming in 2026.

Porsche never even made it to the F1 party having tried to exert too much control over potential partners Red Bull, who stated their cultures were worlds apart when the deal fell through. Mercedes will also be abandoning hybrid technology in the near future as both the UK and Europe are banning them in favour of all electric road cars for the future.

Honda admit they are on the back foot with 2026 engine

 

 

 

Hybrid, F1 ‘yesteryears technology’

So F1 is stuck with yesteryears technology until around 2030 when the next engine era will take place. Stefano Domenicali who represent s the commercial interests for Liberty Media decided it was time to speak his mind over the hybrid era, the in May last year before the FIA announced the final specifications for the next hybrid engines.

“As soon as the 2026 regulations are defined, we will start to think about what the next steps will be, such as the 2030 engine,” said Domenicali. What was truly remarkable about this comment was he was defining the tie span of just four years of the next generation of F1 power. This is a huge break with tradition as a power unit era in F1 is usually between 6 and 8 years.

“It is a personal consideration of mine, not yet shared with the teams, even if we have spoken about it with the FIA, that if sustainable fuels work, we will need to carefully evaluate whether to continue with hybrid (technology) or whether better solutions will be available,” concluded the Italian.

The previous season, Max Verstappen had given his verdict on the current F1 power units, which have been in force for the entirety of his F1 career. “I would definitely get rid of the hybrid,” he said. “I think all the time, when I jump back in a V8, I am always so surprised at how smooth the engine is. 

Red Bull to play the long game in 2025

 

 

 

Historic V8’s better than hybrid

Verstappen conceded the top speed of the historic V8’s “is slow compared to what we have now, but it’s just the pick-up of the engine, and the torque. It’s so smooth the whole delivery process: the downshift, and the upshifts. It’s so much more natural to what we have [now].”

Given the constant war of words between the FIA and Liberty media owned FOM, it was highly surprising this January that Ben Sulayem joined the calls for the end of F1 hybrid power. Of course he had to express a view slightly different from Domenicali’s but he called for a return to normally aspirated V10 engines come 2030.

“While we look forward to the introduction of the 2026 regulations on chassis and power unit, we must also lead the way on future technological motorsport trends,” said the FIA president following the F175 launch. “We should consider a range of directions, including the roaring sound of the V10 running on sustainable fuel.”

Steiner insight into Horner hatred

 

 

 

Hamilton agrees with ditching hybrids

Verstappen was asked about the views of his adversary by Autosport and whilst brief, his response was broadly supportive.“Of course, I think it’s a very nice idea,” said the Dutchman but then offered some advice to the FIA president. “But whether it’s possible or not, that’s obviously a completely different story. I always think it’s better to not just shout so many things. It’s better to try to solve things behind the scenes – that would be better for everyone.”

Lewis Hamilton too has supported ditching the F1 hybrids in the future when asked ahead of the Melbourne Grand Prix this coming weekend. “I hope that in 20 years, we’ll have great races, and we’ll have cars that sound good,” he said. “I certainly hope it’s not completely electric, but sustainable with V10 or V12 engines, with a zero carbon footprint or something like that.”

Ben Sulayem may well be currying favour in the paddock given he is up for re-election to his role as FIA president later this year. But as Verstappen’s response clearly portrayed, the emirate will have a lot more to do before faith is restored in his leadership amongst most of the senior paddock personnel.

Verstappen hoping for a godsend, extreme conditions predicted

 

 

 

 

The tightrope McLaren and Norris must walk

In 2024, McLaren won their first constructors’ title since 1998 in the days when Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard were racing. And despite Lando Norris’ assessment that the drivers title was never really close a number of mis steps by the second oldest F1 team contributed to a final deficit to Max of 64 points.

The pesky Ferrari team too showed weekends of pure genius, which prevented Norris from racking up more points than he did and even Mercedes were dominant on occasions as in Spa-Francorchamp and Las Vegas.

Yet should McLaren and Norris push in 20205 to claim both team and driver titles, they are likely to continue their in season development for longer than their closest rivals. This could hurt the team’s hopes for sustained success as Formula One enters a whole new era with a new set of design regulations… READ MORE