Do the new Formula 1 rules create “incredible” racing or “probably the worst” cars in F1 history? Drivers are split.
The opening race in Australia which mixed a dramatic battle for the lead with some complex strategy, but this week's Chinese Grand Prix could be very different.
With a long straight for electrical power boosts and heavy braking zones to recharge the battery, it's the sort of circuit the new cars were designed for.
F1 has been presenting Sunday's race as a triumph, pointing out there were 120 overtakes on Sunday against 45 in last year's Australian Grand Prix and a thrilling battle for the lead between Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc over multiple laps — both quantity and quality.
Russell and teammate Kimi Antonelli, who called the action “incredible,” are the new cars' biggest cheerleaders after finishing first and second, but Lewis Hamilton is upbeat too after suggesting in preseason the rules might be too complex for fans to follow.
The new rules reward a different skill set, Leclerc said after finishing third.
“Before, it was more about who is the bravest at braking the latest,” he said. “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.”
It wasn't the cruise some had predicted after qualifying but Mercedes is the team to beat.
After Ferrari's strategy error gave Russell and Antonelli clear air in front, they managed the rest of the race with ease and Leclerc wasn't a threat again.
While Russell and Leclerc were fighting, Antonelli showed notable pace as he rapidly recovered from a bad start which had left him seventh to rejoin the fight at the front, passing Lando Norris and Isack Hadjar on the way.
Ferrari's challenge depended on a mix of factors coming together — its own lightning-fast starts, a comparatively slower start by Mercedes, not getting boxed in on the way to the first corner, and then getting everything right in wheel-to-wheel racing and strategy to stop Russell and Antonelli escaping.
Max Verstappen was a strong critic of the new cars in preseason and now Lando Norris has joined him.
“We’ve come from the best cars ever made in Formula 1, and the nicest to drive, to probably the worst,” the defending champion said Saturday. After the race, he was critical of overtaking he branded “artificial,” too.
Russell hit back at Norris' criticism. “If he was winning, I don’t think he’d be saying the same,” Russell said.
Some drivers compared the new era to video game racing or regretted the way overtaking typically happened in straight-line racing rather than old-school dives into a corner.
A social media jibe from the world of IndyCar went viral Saturday as the Chip Ganassi Racing team listed 2026 F1 terms like “battery management” and “downshifting on straights” on X before adding: “Yeah, we don’t do that here. We race.”
Norris warned after the Australian Grand Prix he expects a big crash due to the big differences in speed between two cars if one is deploying extra electrical power and the other isn't.
Watching a replay, Russell and Leclerc winced at a notable near-miss at the start when Franco Colapinto narrowly avoided crashing into the back of Liam Lawson's slow-moving car. The start procedure has already been tweaked once to avoid exactly that sort of incident.
There are concerns of a different sort at Aston Martin, where team boss Adrian Newey warned their uncompetitive and unreliable car vibrated so much that drivers risked “permanent nerve damage.”
Despite a start which answered some of the more pessimistic predictions about F1's new era, key figures have big decisions to make in the coming weeks.
The most immediate is what to do about next month's scheduled races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia amid the conflict in the Middle East.
If they can't go ahead, it would leave an almost five-week hole in the calendar between the Japanese Grand Prix on March 29 and the May 1-3 Miami Grand Prix. Skipping two usually lucrative markets would be a financial hit for F1. Replacement races are unlikely because of the tight time scale to sell tickets and to ship freight.
The FIA has powers to intervene to ensure competitive balance or respond to concerns about how crucial battery charging is. If there's a long gap after the race in Japan, it could be the right time to make changes.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain steers his car into pit lane after a pit stop during the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (William West/Pool Photo via AP)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain celebrates on the podium with his trophy after winning the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Scott Barbour)
Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar, left, of France and Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steer their cars out of turn two at the start of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
