Wheatley suggests Max Verstappen criticism reflects Red Bull struggles in 2026
Jonathan Wheatley has defended Max Verstappen in his F1 2026 criticism
Jonathan Wheatley has suggested Max Verstappen’s criticism of F1’s 2026 rules says as much about Red Bull’s struggles as it does about the regulations themselves.
Four-time world champion Verstappen has been one of the most vocal critics of Formula 1’s new energy harvesting era, labelling the rules “anti-racing’ during pre-season testing.
Jonathan Wheatley links Max Verstappen criticism to Red Bull struggles
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Two races into the season, and with just eight points on the board, he didn’t hold after leaving Shanghai without scoring a point.
The Dutch racer finished the Sprint in ninth place, one place shy of the points, after losing places off the line when he was bogged down by a lack of battery power.
It was more of the same in the grand prix where Verstappen tried to fight back for a points finish only to be told to “retire” his RB22 with an ERS cooling problem.
Verstappen called this ruleset, with its energy management, harvesting and super clipping, “fundamentally flawed” and the racing a “joke”.
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So much so, it reminds him of the computer game Mario Kart.
“I swapped the simulator for my Nintendo Switch and, yeah, practicing a bit of Mario Kart, actually!” he laughed, when asked if drivers who spend more time in the sim are now at a greater advantage than those who don’t.
“Yeah, finding the mushrooms is going quite well. The blue shell is a bit more difficult, but I’m working on it. The rockets are still not there. The rocket is coming!”
He warned F1 bosses that the new regulations will “eventually ruin the sport – it will come and bite them back in the ass.”
The Red Bull driver’s criticism of the new ruleset has been called out as sour grapes by Juan Pablo Montoya, who told him, “there’s the door“, and also Guenther Steiner. The former Haas team boss said it smacks of “toys out of the pram when it doesn’t go his way“.
In sharp contrast to Verstappen, Leclerc, who fought for the podium in both Australia and China, is enjoying the new era of racing.
“I really enjoyed it,” he said.
“Of course, you’ve got those overtakes where it’s artificial, whenever someone is doing a mistake with the battery and completely drains it, and then there’s a massive speed difference.
“But, I feel like we are all converging a little bit towards knowing where we shouldn’t go and where we can try and take the risk, and so that creates very interesting overtaking places. I think today [China] was the showing of that.”
This has led Wheatley to suggest that opinions on the new regulations largely depending on individual performance.
While those at the front of the field, Mercedes and Ferrari, are thoroughly enjoying the new regulations, those not in the fight for the victories aren’t having a great time out on track.
“If you spoke to the two Ferrari drivers, they said it was a brilliant day,” the now-Audi team principal told the media after the Chinese Grand Prix.
“If you can’t win, then if you can just race cleanly…
“I have to say, it didn’t look to me like any kind of false racing. Each driver had a go at each other. They raced beautifully, cleanly.
“I enjoyed watching it. There are battles going on in the field that I think are hugely encouraging.
“I think you can understand Max’s comments, and that’s because of where he finds himself.”
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