Max Verstappen has been famous for never shying away from saying what he wants. There have been so many occasions over the years when the governing body changed the regulations. These changes in rules have an immediate impact on the dominant teams, whichever they are. For instance, in the turbo-hybrid era, Mercedes were unbeatable in terms of constructor titles. They won all of them. Moreover, the Silver Arrows won all but one of the driver’s titles as well as Lewis Hamilton won six of them. The one they did not win came in the final year of turbo-hybrid engines. Max Verstappen won that one in 2021.
He has been winning every Driver’s World Championships since then. Moreover, he has become more vocal than before. He says openly about the rules he likes and the ones he does not. Verstappen did not shy away from criticizing FIA and F1 during press conferences regarding the increase in the number of street circuit races and sprint weekends. Moreover, the reigning champion even threatened to leave the sport because of the experiment of alternate tyre allocation during qualifying. But lately a Dutch journalist called out on Max for being “Neutral” on the 2026 regulation changes.
Louis Dekker Called Out On Max Verstappen
F1 saw changes in 2022 regulations that resulted in Red Bull dethroning Mercedes. Now, what will happen in 2026? As per the new changes, Formula 1 teams will make smaller cars that will run on 50% electrically powered engines. Whoever knows Max Verstappen know that the Dutch racer generally opposes these changes. Recently, in an interview with F1 Maximaal, the Dutch racer mentioned that the new rules will separate the grid once again. Whichever team gets to be the front-runner, it will take time for the rest of the teams to catch up to them. Nonetheless, Max added that these changes are also attracting new teams to the sport. All of a sudden this “Neutral” view of the most dominant racer of the current generation shocked some people. One of them was Dutch journalist Louis Dekker. He called Max Verstappen for his new “PR Training answer.”
Adding to that, Dekker mentioned that it feels like the current triple-time champion showed his politically correct version with that viewpoint. Moreover, Dekker called out on Max, saying, “This is the same guy who says, ‘Keep it simple and pure.'” Previously, Dekker believes the Dutch racer was always very critical on whatever rule the governing body came up with. Perhaps this time, Verstappen proved that he is learning to adjust and not be “Too critical.” Moreover, Dekker feels the news from the Red Bull Racing organization might have been, “Just relax! Don’t complain every time. It will be fine as we’re working on it.” Anyhow, Dekker’s criticism is on point as it has been very unlike the fiery three-time champion Max Verstappen his fans know him to be.
Red Bull Boss Doesn’t Agree With Max
Perhaps the viewpoint of Max Verstappen comes from a genuine place. After all, Christian Horner has been opposing the 2026 regulations ever since it came out. Recently an F1 fan posted a message of Horner saying, the governing body has all the know-how and the simulations for the 2026 season. The Red Bull boss said he trusts the governing body FIA and F1 to make the right decisions.
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Previously, Horner expressed his strong views on the Budget cap rules, and then he may have had even stronger views on the 2026 regulations that will change the shape of the normal F1 car. As per Horner, the 2026 regulations are too drastic, and Red Bull won’t be able to tackle them, specifically the rules regarding the engines. The boss already mentioned that Red Bull power units are facing difficulties. Perhaps with the new rules and regulations, the reigning champions will face a lot of trouble.
Stay tuned to Sports News International for more such updates about your favorite F1 team.