Max Verstappen voiced strong dissatisfaction with Formula 1's 2026 regulations following a frustrating weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix, likening the racing to 'Mario Kart.' The Red Bull driver battled midfield cars before retiring mid-race. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff attributed some of Verstappen's complaints to his team's car issues.
At the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen endured another challenging round. He described Friday's practice and sprint qualifying as 'a disaster,' with slow starts dropping him out of points in the sprint despite pitting under the safety car. In qualifying, he reached Q3 but lagged behind frontrunners, competing with Pierre Gasly's Alpine and Oliver Bearman's Haas. 'We changed a lot on the car and it makes zero difference,' Verstappen said. 'The whole weekend we've been off – the car is completely undriveable. I cannot even put a bit of a reference in. Every lap is like survival.' On Sunday, a poor start saw him enter the first corner in 16th place. He recovered to the top 10 before retiring mid-race. 'We were fighting Haas and Alpine the whole race,' he noted. 'You are boosting past, then you run out of battery the next straight, they boost past you again. For me, it's just a joke.' Verstappen, who finished sixth in Australia after a slow start due to a depleted battery, now lies eighth in the championship with eight points. He called the rules 'fundamentally flawed,' stating, 'It’s terrible. If someone likes this, then you really don't know what racing is about. It’s not fun at all. It’s playing Mario Kart. This is not racing.' He claimed to speak for most drivers and warned authorities in 2023. Mercedes' Toto Wolff countered that Verstappen is 'in a horror show,' citing 'horrendous' onboard footage from Red Bull's car. 'It’s not the same with many other teams,' Wolff said, adding the Shanghai race featured good overtakes and that fan data shows enthusiasm for the product, though lift-and-coast in qualifying is challenging.
