Martin Brundle challenges Verstappen over lift-and-coast concerns

Martin Brundle insists lift-and-coast has long been a part of Formula 1, with even the turbos of the ’80s down by 400bhp by the end of a qualifying lap.

His comment comes just hours after Max Verstappen said he could quit Formula 1 because the new regulations, which demand energy management, are “not very F1-like” and “feels a bit more like Formula E on steroids”.

Max Verstappen: The word for F1 2026 is “management”

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Aside from all-new cars that incorporate active aerodynamics, this season Formula 1 also has new engine regulations with the power units running on sustainable fuel with a 50/50 split between electrical and combustion power.

It means energy management is now more important than ever.

And Verstappen isn’t impressed with, “I would say the right word is management“.

“To drive, not a lot of fun to be honest,” he told media, including PlanetF1.com, after the second day of testing in Bahrain. “The feeling is not very F1-like. It feels a bit more like Formula E on steroids.”

He added: “I don’t mind that, but, as a pure driver, I enjoy driving flat out, and, at the moment, you cannot drive like that.”

Taking the “fun” out of driving, the four-time World Champion added: “I mean, I am, of course, also exploring other things outside of Formula 1 to have fun at.”

Such are the concerns about the energy management, qualifying has been brought into the mix. What used to be a flat-out full-gas lap, may now also see drivers having to LiCo on the straights.

Reigning world champion Lando Norris explained: “You can’t go full throttle in the last corner because of your battery. As soon as you cross the line, you have to lift again.

“That’s certainly not how you would normally think about a fast qualifying lap.”

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And if the drivers, who know the cars better than anyone else, have concerns, it is not surprising that fans are also worried about the new F1 era.

An F1 fan on X, tagging Brundle and Sky’s other former F1 drivers, stated that “lift and coast is 100% not racing. All your ex-racing driver pundits are hypocrites if they champion this ‘F1 destroying era’.”

“I appreciate your passion but we lifted and coasted back in the fearsome 80’s turbo days,” wrote the nine-time podium finisher. “And pretty much constantly in Sportscar racing at Le Mans and suchlike.

“Sometimes regulations determine total fuel use, but in any case, you never want to carry excess fuel through a race, it’s guaranteed to slow you down. Through the eras the great champions had to manage and protect engines, tyres, brakes, clutch, gearbox, suspension, driveshafts, fuel load, and now battery charge.

“It’s all part of the challenge, the best simply have a greater capacity to manage those challenges whilst carrying winning speed.”

But later asked whether he had to lift-and-coast in qualifying in Formula 1 during the 80s, Brundle replied: “We didn’t LiCo into and through a qualifying lap back then.

“But as the intercoolers, turbos, and motors melted with 1300 bhp at the start of the lap, we probably had 400bhp less by the end of that one lap, and the qualy tyres were good for about half of that.”

And the 80s gave rise to undoubtedly one of Formula 1’s best-ever qualifiers, Ayrton Senna.

“And Senna managed this massive variability better than anybody else in a car that inherently wanted to crash, and would hurt you badly if it did,” added Brundle. “He was my kind of champion.”

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