Max Verstappen Rips F1 Changes and Fans That Like It, Says 'It's Playing Mario Kart'

It has been quite the disappointing start to the 2026 F1 season for Max Verstappen, and the Red Bull driver is not pleased with the new cars and engines.

"It's still terrible," he said after Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix, per Alex Kalinauckas of The Athletic. "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 also said those who have enjoyed the start of the 2026 campaign are "not real fans."

Kalinauckas explained the cars are "narrower and shorter" this year, while the use of electrical engine energy has led to "yo-yo" style passes with drivers getting past a competitor using more of that energy before they are quickly repassed after that energy runs out.

"You are boosting past, then you run out of battery the next straight, they boost past you again," Verstappen said. "For me, it's just a joke."

Reigning F1 champion Lando Norris was the one who coined the "yo-yo" phrase and also didn't hold back earlier this month when he told reporters, "We've come from the best cars ever made in Formula 1 and the nicest to drive to probably the worst. It sucks, but you have to live with it and just maximise what you get given. It's certainly different. It's certainly not like it was last year."

It has been an inconsistent start to the season for Norris with a fifth-place finish in the Australian Grand Prix before he was forced to retire in the Chinese Grand Prix. 

Verstappen also had to retire in Sunday's race because of a cooling problem on his engine's electrical energy recovery system after he finished in sixth place in Australia.

"It's not about being upset of where I am," he said. "Because I'm actually fighting even more now (compared to 2023, when he won 19 out of 22 races).

"You get to understand what (racing) is about even more (down the order). For me, it's really a joke."

It is still quite early in the season, but Norris is in sixth place and Verstappen is in eighth place in the driver standings. Red Bull is a distant fifth in the constructors standings, while Mercedes is sitting in first place following one-two finishes from George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.

Russell won in Australia, while Antonelli won in China.