Max Verstappen a hypocrite over F1 2026 regs criticism claims ex-F1 boss

christian horner, max verstappen, raymond vermeulen, red bull racing, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Max Verstappen a hypocrite over 2026 regs criticism claims ex-F1 boss

Will Verstappen ever be happy with the new F1 rules?

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Saturday 30 May 2026 21:57

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Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen has been called out for what a former team principal believes is hypocrisy regarding his criticism of the 2026 regulations.

Ahead of this year's campaign, new chassis and power unit rules were introduced, turning the sport and the championship's competitive order on its head.

Red Bull and Verstappen have struggled greatly during the transition into the new rules cycle, with the Dutchman even said to be 'seriously considering' retirement.

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During last weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, the 28-year-old announced he will be remaining on the grid in 2027, but failed to confirm his intentions to stay with the energy drink giants.

But things finally perked up on track for the star driver as he finally picked up his first podium of the season on Sunday, giving contrasting interviews over whether the recent tweaks to the new rules were satisfactory or not across the Montreal race weekend.

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Verstappen's 2026 regulation complaints questioned

Despite finishing P3, his best grand prix result in 2026, Verstappen said after the Canadian GP: "For me, F1 just needs to be more pure. I really hope what they try to do next year will go through."

Following Verstappen's mixed messaging last time out, ex-Haas F1 boss Guenther Steiner has implied the champion is being rather hypocritical regarding this year's ruleset.

After being sacked from his F1 team principal role in 2024, Steiner has now found his place on the broadcasting side of F1 and also serves as the CEO of the Red Bull KTM Tech3 MotoGP team.

But despite the Red Bull link, the team boss turned pundit isn't convinced Verstappen's criticism of the 2026 rules is genuine.

On a recent episode of the Red Flags podcast, Steiner questioned the authenticity of the Dutchman's regulations complaints, saying: "Max Verstappen was a little bit happier because he was on the podium. I guess if he would have won, he would be really happy, and it would be the best regs ever. That's just to clarify where we stand there emotionally with Max on the regs."

The 61-year-old then suggested Verstappen's continued criticism could be a part of a wider effort to push for even more changes to the power unit rules, adding: "Afterwards, he had to come out with this one because there is this debate, should they go 60/40? And some of the teams don’t want to go 60/40 because they think if ADUO comes in, they can catch up to Mercedes and if they free up the rules again to do a new engine, they cannot catch them.

“So I don't know who is standing exactly where with the rules, but obviously the people with ADUO they are more for staying with what they've got.”

Turning his attention back to Red Bull, Steiner added: "I think they want to change, they want a new engine...So obviously Max after the race had to go out there and say I still don't really like them [2026 regs] even if I like them a little bit, but I still want to change the regs.

"That is how his politics are playing to change the engine regs...it's all about making Max happy in Formula 1."

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen 2026 regulations Guenther Steiner