F1 race winner demands action to save the sport - 'Software decides the result'

Heinz-Harald Frentzen celebrates winning the 1997 San Marino Grand Prix with Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 2026

F1 race winner demands action to save the sport - 'Software decides the result'

Heinz-Harald Frentzen has suggested a change to the sport

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 6 July 2026 11:02

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Former F1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen has told the sport to 'wake up' when it comes to the 2026 regulation changes.

The new regulations have been the subject of much criticism since the start of the year, including from drivers on the grid, with Max Verstappen describing the new cars as 'not fun' to drive.

The enhanced reliance on electrical energy was on show at the British Grand Prix, where the sprint race saw a number of overtakes that were clearly impacted by one driver harvesting energy and the other utilising their boost mode.

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Lewis Hamilton, for example, used too much of his boost button at the start of lap 10, and was eventually a sitting duck to Kimi Antonelli later in the lap, who breezed past the seven-time world champion to take the lead of the race.

Verstappen was not happy with his Red Bull car during the Saturday of the British Grand Prix weekend, and one of his quotes got Frentzen discussing with fans on social media about how the sport needs to be changed.

BRITISH GRAND PRIX: Final classification after Silverstone drama

Frentzen launches scathing assessment of new rules

Replying to a GPFans social media post of Verstappen, saying: "If we leave the car as it is, there's little point in racing," - three-time grand prix winner Frentzen said: "F1, please wake up."

Frentzen then responded to fans in the comments who were more positive about the new regulations, saying: "It’s a technical disaster. There is no more driver input. Software is deciding the result. They lost the plot…

"There are so many people like you. Even my daughter likes it. But it doesn’t mean they understand what’s going on in the sport…

"They can continue to play the show, but if they don’t wake up soon the show will be a turning back into a bad surprise with revolting from the teams."

RESULTS: Verstappen crash costs Hamilton in dramatic finish

F1 2026 regulations Heinz-Harald Frentzen