F1 champion Mika Hakkinen thinks 2026 cars are BETTER than in his 'glory days'

Michael Schumacher congratulates Mika Hakkinen on the Belgian Grand Prix podium in 2000 as Ralf Schumacher looks on — Photo: © IMAGO

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F1 champion Mika Hakkinen thinks 2026 cars are BETTER than in his 'glory days'

Hakkinen gave his take on the new cars and regs in 2026

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 5 August 2026 22:30 Updated: 07:45

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Former F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen believes the much-maligned 2026 cars are 'better" than the ones he drive in the 'glory days' of the late 90s and early 2000s.

The 2026 regulation changes saw an overhaul of both power unit and chassis regulations, with power units seeing an increase three-fold in the amount of electrical energy being used and the cars being smaller, lighter, more nimble and more easily able to follow one another.

F1 in 2026 has been subject to criticism from fans, pundits as well as some drivers, with four-time world champion Max Verstappen claiming that the new cars are 'not fun' to drive, and likening the new world to Mario Kart.

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But despite all of this criticism, the 2026 changes have led to more racing action, with more overtakes happening at almost every race on the calendar compared to 2025.

We have often seen huge battles at the very front of the grid in 2026, including between arch rivals Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at both the Miami and Hungarian Grands Prix.

Now Hakkinen has had his say on the regulation changes, claiming that the new cars are better than he has previously driven, in a conversation with former McLaren team-mate David Coulthard.

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Both men appeared on the Up to Speed podcast, having been team-mates at McLaren between 1996-2001.

Coulthard said he wasn’t sure he’d want the technical challenge of driving the modern type of engine under the new regulations, but Hakkinen replied: "Well, it's crazy. I feel these cars must be better cars than what we had.

"They must be better. They must be much more stable under the braking. The torque of the engine must be much more linear coming out of the corners, downshift, the upshifts, the braking performance, everything must be better. And I found it fascinating that the technology has gone so much forward that you can develop the car in simulators. You can drive the simulators.

"Whatever adjustments you do in gearboxes or whatever balance of the car, you can implement that to the real world in a real car. So those things are fascinating.

Weight would be the only negative

"I think the power of the engine is also massive. I think we had probably 800 900 horsepower. Now they have definitely minimum 1,000. I think the only thing I would not like is the weight of the car. I think that would be the only negative. We have 6, 700 kilos the weight of the racing car. Now they are still 800, 900 kilos.

"So I think that would be the negative thing when you're in a corner and you like to play with the steering a little bit and to balance the car. I think that's the only negative thing. But otherwise, I think would be exciting to to try them."

F1 2026 regulations David Coulthard Mika Hakkinen