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Motorsport

From “artificial” to “awesome” – how drivers rate the racing under F1’s 2026 rules

As (Person) Gabriel Bortoleto George Russell Pierre Gasly F1 Charles Leclerc Haas Lando Norris Max Verstappen Mercedes

Formula 1 kicked off its new season in style at the Australian Grand Prix, which featured a frantic start, battles for the lead and a handful of retirements. George Russell won for Mercedes in a race that was dominated by talk of the new cars, which have divided opinion in the paddock.

For 2026, F1 rolls out new regulations that mandate for smaller, lighter cars that are powered by new hybrid engines with a near-50:50 split in power between electrical energy and internal combustion. The cars bring with them a new way of racing, as F1 adds active aero on the front and rear wings, a new boost mode to replace DRS, and racers are changing the way they drive in order to keep their battery packs topped up.

This new way of driving has left some racers happy with F1’s new era, while others leave Australia disappointed with the championship’s change in direction. This is what the grid had to say about the on-track action after the opening race of the season.

Lewis Hamilton: “I thought it was great”

“I personally loved it,” said the Briton. “I thought the race was really fun to drive. I thought the car was really, really fun to drive. I watched the cars ahead, there was good battling back and forth. So far, so good.

“It may seem different, but in my position, I thought it was great.”

Esteban Ocon: “It's very frustrating”

“It's painful, because you can't really do much as drivers,” the Haas driver responded when asked how he found racing the new cars. “Once you use the boost button and you have not managed to overtake, or even if you overtake, you are just vulnerable again on the next straight.

"The other guy is going to overtake you again, which happened with Pierre [Gasly] three times. Happened with Gabi [Bortoleto] as well when I was fighting him two times. I just overtook and got overtaken again. It's very frustrating.”

Lando Norris, McLaren (Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images)

Lando Norris: “Not for me”

“I don't know, just not as fun as last year – but it is what it is, and I think we maximised today,” the McLaren driver said when asked about how the new cars feel in race trim. However, his view on the 2026 regulations took a turn when he was probed about F1’s new boost mode.

“It's chaos, you're going to have a big accident, which is a shame,” he added. “That's not a nice position to be in, 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 not for me.”

Liam Lawson: “Not super fun to drive”

“Honestly it's not super fun to drive in the race, you're just constantly managing energy, running out of energy, slowing down at the end of every straight,” the Racing Bulls driver said after the Australian GP. “It can be pretty painful, but I think for us we've had quite a strong engine throughout the weekend, we had some issues in the race, which wasn't ideal, but I think without that we probably could have moved further forward.

“I didn't see the race on TV, but from where I sat it was really tough to overtake, it was really hard to manage energy and not super fun to drive.”

Kimi Antonelli: "Better than what we anticipated"

"I think in a track like this, the overtake was incredibly powerful and you could overtake," said the Mercedes sophomore after finishing on the podium in Australia. "It created a lot of action in the first few laps of the race, so I think, you know, on this kind of track there will be a lot of action, in some other track maybe a bit less.

"But I think today was much better than what we all anticipated, so I think, yeah we need to just wait a few more races before actually commenting on this new regulation."

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team (Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Oliver Bearman: “A lot of stuff to think about”

“It was like I was in F1 and everyone else was in F2,” the Haas driver responded when asked about F1’s overtake mode. “But then, of course, you have to recharge the battery again, because otherwise you're dead into the next straight.

“So, it's a lot of stuff to think about, which is complicated, but the fact that I finished P7 means that I'm happy, even if the car has not been the most fun to drive this weekend.

"It's a bit ridiculous, to be honest, to have that much delta in a button, and to lose that much on the next straight. It's also very non-linear, so what you gain on the straights, where you use the boost, is a quarter as much as what you lose on the next straight. So, unless you basically complete the move at the start of the straight, as in you exit the corner, you complete the move, and then you harvest, harvest, harvest, the next straight they're going to get you back.”

Carlos Sainz: “It was really sketchy”

“I think the biggest worry for me about the racing is lap one,” said the Spaniard when asked for his thoughts on F1’s new era. “It felt like it was really sketchy with [straight mode] on, everyone on the back straight. It felt really dangerous and very difficult to control the car.

“And then when racing someone else, the same, if it's straight line it's not bad because it's like the DRS last year, but when there's a bit of cornering and both cars are using SM, it becomes like there's cornering in Turn 7-8, and that back straight, it feels sketchy also.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Paul Crock / AFP via Getty Images)

Max Verstappen: “I want it to be better than this”

“Chaos. Honestly, I don't really find the right words for it I think,” said the four-time world champion.

“I think what [Formula 1] should worry about is the rules, just focus on that. They ask questions and I give my opinion of what I would like to see and what I think is better for the sport because I do care about it, I do love racing and I want it to be better than this, right?

“So, let's see what we can do. I hope that even during this year maybe we can come up with some different solutions. Yeah, so it becomes more enjoyable for everyone.”

Pierre Gasly: “We need to give it some time”

“I think we do need to give it some time, see different tracks,” said the Frenchman. “Melbourne was probably one of the worst and it was always going to be tricky. But it wasn't natural in the way that you got to approach it.

“There's just way more than just driving going on. It's the battery, the energy, the difference between PUs. Who's deploying more into turn one, less turn three, more turn six. The lift off you've got to do, etc. We're taking quite a bit away from the pure driving.”

Charles Leclerc: "You always try and think multiple steps ahead"

"I just think that it will definitely change the way we go about racing and overtaking," said the Ferrari driver. "Before, it was more about who is the bravest at braking the latest.

"Maybe now, there’s a bit more of a strategic mind behind every move you make because every boost button activation, you know you’re going to pay the price big time after that, and so you always try and think multiple steps ahead to try and end up eventually first. But it’s a different way to go about racing for sure."

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes (Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images)

George Russell: “You need to give it a shot”

“It's definitely different,” when asked about the impact boost mode had on the racing action. “But I think the interesting thing with these regs is every track we go to, they're not always going to be like this.

“Everyone's very quick to criticise things. You need to give it a shot, you know. We're 22 drivers, when we've had the best cars and the least tyre degradation and we've been happiest, everyone moans the racing [is] rubbish. Now, drivers aren't perfectly happy, and everyone said it was an amazing race.

“So, you can't have it all. And I think we should give it a chance and see after a few more races.”

Sergio Perez: “A very different Formula 1”

“It's a very different Formula 1 to what I was used to,” said the Cadillac driver, who returns to F1 after a year on the sidelines. “It's a lot less fun, definitely. It's not as fun as it used to be, the racing side, and with this amount of management that we have to do, it's not great, to be honest.

“I think we are all with the artificial racing, it's too artificial. Unfortunately, Formula 1 has changed a lot.”

Arvid Lindblad: “It’s different”

“It's different,” said the rookie driver. “In the end, F1 is in constant evolution. Yes, it's a big change in Formula 1. Whether it's good or not, I'm not going to answer. I'm just going to focus on doing as best as I can with the team.”

Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team (Photo by: Quinn Rooney / Getty Images)

Gabriel Bortoleto: “I'm still a bit confused”

“It was nice, it was very nice, I must say,” smiled the Audi driver. “But, you know, a lot of things to be learned still. I made overtakes that I didn't want to make by mistake, because I had so much energy and the other car was clipping like crazy.

“But, you know, you need to think a lot when you're racing. Last year, everything was much more predictable. So, as soon as you make an overtake, it was done. And now you make an overtake, you need to calculate the next three straights. Because maybe the guy will overtake you back. Then you need to overtake him back in the other one. It keeps going like that until everyone is in the same state of energy.

“So, yeah, a lot of things to be learned still. I wish I could give you more than this, but I'm still a bit confused with the regs. And I'm getting to know them better while we live them.”

Valtteri Bottas: “It is a different type of racing”

“It's manageable,” said the Cadillac driver. “For sure, some things maybe could be better. But in the end, we can't change the cars now. That's what it is, so we just need to make the most out of it.

“It is a different type of racing. I learned it today as well when I was trying to defend with the battery, but then that bit me the lap after. I was like a sitting duck and lost three places. So, all these things we're still learning. But like I said yesterday, I'm still having fun in the car.”