Max Verstappen rages at F1 rules after qualifying disaster

Max Verstappen has reiterated his opposition to the 2026 Formula 1 rules by saying that “the formula is just not correct”, following a disastrous crash in Australian Grand Prix qualifying.

His comments came in the wake of a heated debate in Friday night’s drivers’ briefing, when drivers slammed the new regulations and Max Verstappen was among the most vocal critics.

He had a disastrous qualifying session in Melbourne, crashing heavily in Q1 after the rear of the car locked on him.

After alighting from the cockpit, he appeared to have some concerns about his hands, but following a trip to the medical centre, he was given the all-clear.

“All good,” he said when asked by Crash.net if he was OK. “I just had to get some X-rays done to see if my hands are okay. But nothing was broken.

"I just hit the pedal and the whole rear axle just completely locked, which, especially with these F1 cars, is very weird. I mean, I've never experienced that in my whole life. I have no idea where it comes from.

"And also I didn't speak to the team yet, didn't get the time yet.”

Asked if the incident was related to the new rules he said: “I don't know. There's so many things that that we need to look at, I think, in general, as a sport. So yeah, what can I say?”

Verstappen confirmed that he had spoken his mind in the Friday briefing, adding that he is "not having fun" in the new cars.

“I said how I thought about it. I mean, I'm definitely not having fun at all with these cars. I don't know. You can make up your mind, but I think if you look at the onboard, you see enough, right?

"There's nothing that you can do. You can only make it slower, and then, of course, you get a bit more of a normal speed race, but it's a slower speed race.

"The formula is just not correct, and that is something that is a bit harder to change, but I think we need to.”

Mercedes advantage as expected, says Verstappen

Mercedes dominated qualifying at Albert Park, with George Russell taking pole from team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli in a display that has led to renewed sandbagging claims.

But Verstappen insisted that Mercedes has the advantage that he had anticipated.

“I said already in Bahrain, let's wait and see in Melbourne, and you will see how fast they are,” he said. “So for me, that's not a not a surprise.

"The gap is eight-tenths to P1. So that's still a very big gap. And we know that we have to improve the car and engine, to fight Mercedes, because at the end of the day, we're not here to be P3, four, five, six, whatever.

"We're here to win. So yeah, step-by-step, hopefully we can get closer.”

Verstappen has the option to change set-up and start from the pitlane, but he is unlikely to take it, noting "I wouldn't even know what to change to be honest.”

Asked if Sunday will be a long day from 20th he said: "It’s going to be a long season, that's what I'm telling you."