Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has hit out at Red Bull driver Max Verstappen for his complaints against the new car regulations in the Formula 1 2026 season, as the four-time world champion struggles to make an early impact. The biggest rule change requires a 50-50 power split between the internal combustion (ICE) and electrical energy.

The 28-year-old Verstappen has been one of the most impacted drivers as he was forced to retire at the Chinese Grand Prix and came sixth in the opening Australian GP.

“It’s terrible,” an angry Verstappen said after the race in Shanghai on Sunday. “If someone likes this, then you really don’t know what racing is like. Not fun at all. Playing Mario Kart. This is not racing and I would say the same if I would be winning races because I care about the racing product.”

Wolff hits out at Verstappen over car complaints

Mercedes, meanwhile, are leading the charts, winning both races and also securing the second spot in Melbourne and Shanghai. Their 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli secured his first F1 race win at the Chinese Grand Prix.

And Mercedes chief Wolff has hit out at Verstappen over his complaints, saying that Max’s reactions are more a result of his frustration and a poor Red Bull car rather than the changes in the rules. He added that new engines have also been producing entertaining races.

“Max is really, I think, in a horror show,” Wolff said. “When you look at the onboard he has in qualifying, this is just horrendous to drive.”

“From an entertainment perspective, I believe what we’ve seen between Ferrari and Mercedes was good racing, many overtakes. We were all part of Formula One when there was no overtaking. Sometimes we’re too nostalgic about the good old years, but the product is good in itself. We saw quite some racing in the midfield also and that is the positive.”

Lewis Hamilton has also agreed with his former boss Wolff, as he said that the Chinese Grand Prix was “the best racing I’ve ever experienced in Formula One”.

Hamilton and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc were involved in an intense race in Shanghai with overtaking and some exciting wheel-to-wheel driving.

For the unversed, F1 was willing to make some adjustments to the rules to address the complaints from some of the drivers, but after a successful Chinese GP, there’s no guarantee any major change would be brought in.

In any case, no change would be made before the Japanese Grand Prix, which will take place in two weeks. They could be implemented at the Miami Grand Prix in May, as
no races are taking place in April due to the war in West Asia.

Chinese Grand Prix Live Updates: The Chinese GP returns with the second race of the F1 calendar taking place on Sunday, March 15 at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China.

Kimi Antonelli is right at the front with his Mercedes while his teammate George Russell is at the second to make it all-Mercedes front row. Lewis Hamilton claimed P3 in the qualifying while his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc is at P4. The McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are at fifth and sixth position respectively.

Antonelli’s historic pole

Antonelli became the youngest-ever polesitter in F1 history at just 19 years, six months and 17 days old. He broke the 18-year-old record of Sebastian Vettel who was 21 years and 73 days old at the time of his pole at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. It is also the Britisher’s first pole in his F1 career and now he will have the chance to seal his first Grand Prix victory.

“I’m feeling great. It was a good session, a good way to end the day after a difficult Sprint. Of course there’s a lot of excitement, but the focus is already ahead on tomorrow because there’s a big, big opportunity and I just really want to maximise it,” he said after clinching a historic pole position.

“I think the start is going to be interesting,” the teenager explained while talking about the race. “I’m going to try not to overcomplicate things, just going to try to have a clean start and the pace is good.

“Just need to also manage the tyres the best way possible because graining could be quite severe tomorrow, so just going to try to stay on top of that. But the main thing is a clean start and then we’ll see from there.”

Meanwhile, Antonelli’s teammate
George Russell claimed Sprint victory at the Chinese Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Chinese GP Live Streaming

Chinese Grand Prix 2026 will be streamed live on FanCode in India. Users will have to buy subscription to watch the race.

Mercedes have clearly emerged as the fastest car in the new Formula 1 2026 season, completing a 1-2 at the inaugural Australian Grand Prix and George Russell winning at Albert Park. The compression of car dimensions and the 50/50 power split between the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and electrical energy have seemingly catapulted Mercedes back to being the best.

So can they win their first Formula One Constructors’ Championship since 2021?

Former Williams and Renault driver Jacques Villeneuve believes the competitive picture in Formula One could change as the 2026 season progresses, even if Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team appears to have a big advantage.

“Well, the team will get closer during the season as we progress. That’s a given. Then we’ll see how much Mercedes has an advantage or not. Mercedes really have a good chassis. Ferrari is there close enough to get good points, which could allow them later in the season to get some victories once everything balances,” Jacques Villeneuve told Firstpost during an online interaction organised by online broadcaster FanCode.

‘A little bit tougher for McLaren and Red Bull’

Villeneuve, who was speaking from Shanghai ahead of the upcoming weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, added that four-time world champion Max Verstappen and Red Bull should also be able to do well as we complete more races despite leadership changes at the team.

“A little bit tougher for McLaren and Red Bull, although we’ve seen Red Bull always recover. So, Max (Verstappen), if he’s not too far, always count on him and his teammate (Isack Hadjar) seems to be good this year. He has a teammate who seems to be able to be competitive, which should help the team move forward. But the team has changed so much at Red Bull that we still have to figure out and understand how they all work together now, because even the head of the team has changed. Helmut Marko is not there either.”

2025 winner McLaren had a tough time in Melbourne as
world champion Norris finished fifth, and Oscar Piastri crashed out in the warm-up lap. Villeneuve feels early indications only suggest that McLaren are far from ready to put up a title challenge in 2026.

“What is difficult to understand is how much slower the McLaren is than the Mercedes because it’s supposed to be the same engine. And it’s hard to understand how they could be so far behind, other than maybe they spent all the energy last year on winning the championship and not really designing the new car.”

A job well done for Mercedes and George Russell 👏🫡#F1Sprint #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/2QrxfE6DcY

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 13, 2026

Villeneuve also pointed out that 23-year-old Piastri of McLaren, who missed out on the driver championship by 13 points last year, is under the most pressure among all the drivers on the grid.

“Piastri was leading the whole championship last year. He had his shot, but his teammate is now a world champion…Mostly when, as a driver, you know that you had your shot at winning a championship and now the car doesn’t seem to be able to give you that anymore, that puts the expectations so high on him,” the 54-year-old Villeneuve said.

“When he was signed with McLaren, everyone was saying he was the real deal. He’s the world champion. But he hasn’t shown it. Now people start thinking, was it true? The ball changes camps so fast. It’s a very fragile position. It’s a very human nature that people are almost happy when someone fails and falters and it’s tough. So I would say he’s the one under the most pressure right now.”

Villeneuve praises India-origin driver Arvid Lindblad

One of the standout performers from the opening race weekend was young Indian-origin driver Arvid Lindblad, who impressed in the opening race with P8 finish in Racing Bulls. But Villeneuve urged caution before drawing big conclusions.

“Arvid did amazing in Melbourne. He was ahead of his teammate in the race. He raced well and he’s quite young. But you have to be careful because the number of heroes we’ve had in their first race in Melbourne every year and people say, oh great, that’s the next future champion. But within two races they disappear completely,” Villeneuve, who won five races in his F1 career, said.

Also Read |
Back to his Indian roots, new F1 sensation Arvid Lindblad spoke like he drives — fast, fearless and ready for Formula One

“So there’s always this excitement of the first race, the adrenaline of that first race, that often makes them overperform. And then suddenly they think, wow, I’m great and collapse after that. So we have to wait and see. But he seems to be the real deal. So let’s give him two or three races to see what happens. But that was an impressive first race under pressure.”

All in all, Villeneuve’s message is clear — the early shape of the season might suggest a Mercedes advantage, but Formula One seasons don’t always stay predictable for long. As teams adapt, the real competitive order could still shift in the months ahead.

The F1 2026 season in India is being streamed live on FanCode.

Mercedes driver George Russell won the opening Australian Grand Prix Circuit of the Formula 1 2026 season as local hero Oscar Piastri suffered a disastrous start, crashing during the warm-up lap. Piastri sent the home fans into a shock as the 24-year-old, who finished third in the 2025 F1 drivers’ standings, lost control of his McLaren car while coming out of Turn 4 at the circuit in Melbourne.

Turn 4 at the Albert Park is one of the fastest parts of the track. And this is where Piastri lost control of his car as it spun and hit the barriers, suffering severe impact and ruling the driver out of the race.

Russell wins Melbourne GP, Piastri crashes 

Thankfully, Piastri did not suffer any physical damage, but he would certainly have been bitterly disappointed at not finishing the home race.

His partner and 2025 world champion, Lando Norris, finished the Melbourne Grand Prix in fifth position, missing out on the podium in the first race of the season.

Oscar Piastri has crashed and is OUT of the Australian Grand Prix before it begins 😮#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/5prGby7dNC

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 8, 2026

It was double delight for Mercedes as youngster Kimi Antonelli came second on Sunday, while Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was third. Lewis Hamilton would be somewhat happy that he finished fourth.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen finished sixth in the Red Bull.

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were also at the top in the qualifying as they made it a Mercedes 1-2.

F1 live streaming: The F1 2026 races in India are being streamed live on the FanCode app and website.

More to follow…

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen crashed out in Q1 in the Australian Grand Prix Qualifying on Saturday, March 7 to start his season on a shaky note. The four-time F1 world champion forced the red flags to come up early as his dramatic crash left down at the last position for the Sunday’s race.

The Dutchman joined the action with eight minutes still left on the clock in Q1. Before he could register a banker lap, his car span off the track and slammed into the barriers at Turn 1. Without a timed lap to his name, Verstappen was left at P20 for the final race.

Max Verstappen is OUT of Qualifying, with no time set! 😳

This is the moment where the Red Bull driver spins into the wall at Turn 1 👇#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/M2XKoapEMl

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 7, 2026

“The car just locked on the rear axles,” Verstappen said over the radio following his crash. The then walked away from his stricken car with disappointment. Red flags came up and the session was stopped for 15 minutes.

Russell grabs pole for Australian GP

With Verstappen out of the way, his competitors rode away in the season opener which sees multiple new rules being introduced.

George Russell stormed to the pole position for Sunday’s race as the Mercedes star led throughout each segment of Qualifying before posting a stunning final lap of 1m 18.518s to clinch top spot. He beat his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli who will start from P2.

Antonelli who had dramatically crashed out of Saturday’s final practice session with a violent double impact bounced back strongly in the Qualifying to help Mercedes lock out the front row.

Isack Hadjar had a good outing on his Red Bull debut as he claimed the third place ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and home hero McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Lando Norris of McLaren who ended Verstappen’s four-year reign as world champion last season, finished at P6. Lewis Hamilton ended seventh.

The new season of Formula 1 gets underway this weekend with the Australian Grand Prix set to take place at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit on Sunday. And for the first time in five years, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will not be starting the season as the defending champion, with
McLaren’s Lando Norris having beaten the Dutchman by just two points in the thrilling season-ending race in Abu Dhabi to win his maiden world title.

The 2026 F1 season will also mark the beginning of a new era, with the cars in the elite single-seater racing competition undergoing a major overhaul, especially when it comes to the chassis and engines, with focus on energy management.

Hamilton and Verstappen slam new F1 rules

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen – who have a total of 11 F1 world titles between them – aren’t exactly in an upbeat state of mind heading into the new Formula 1 season, and it has everything to do with FIA’s new rules that will be enforced this year.

Hamilton, who will be eyeing a record-breaking eighth world title this year after enduring a poor debut with Scuderia in 2025, had described the new rules as “ridiculously complex”, even claiming that F1 fans might need a university degree to fully understand them.

“None of the fans are going to understand it, I don’t think. It’s so complex,” Hamilton had told ESPN during the pre-season testing in Bahrain last month. “It’s ridiculously complex. I sat in a meeting the other day and they’re taking us through it. It’s ike you need a degree to fully understand it all.”

Verstappen had seconded Hamilton’s sensational statement,
describing it as “Formula E on steroids” after taking the new car for a spin during the pre-season testing.

“To drive (they are) not a lot of fun, to be honest. I would say the right word is management. It’s not very Formula One-like. It feels a bit more like Formula E on steroids,” the four-time world champion had said last month.

“A lot of what you do as a driver, in terms of inputs, has a massive effect on the energy side of things. For me, that’s just not Formula 1. Maybe it’s then better to drive Formula E, right? Because that’s all about energy, efficiency and management,” he added.

What are the key changes in F1 2026? 

A key change in F1’s regulations this year is the introduction of battery management with drivers now having multiple power modes at their disposal for the duration of a race.

Among the new power modes is the Overtake Mode, a battery-boosted system that replaces the old Drag Reduction System – a driver-controlled device that opens a flap on the rear wing to reduce aerodynamic drag and helps in overtaking by boosting straight-line speed. Drivers can also gain a boost in power upto 350KW through the Boost mode, but will also have to recover it through the Recharge mode – both features being controlled by the electrical system.

Another major change is in the engines, with the new hybrid versions now have an equal split in power between the internal combustion engine (ICE) and electrical energy. The 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrids will be producing close to 1,000bhp, and while the split between the ICE and the electrical unit was 80-20 until the last season, it will be nearly equal starting this year.

These are FIVE of the key changes in this season’s technical regulations! 💪🔧#F1 pic.twitter.com/nM1XbJqwM6

— Formula 1 (@F1) January 23, 2026

And while the FIA has decided to do away with DRS, cars will have the front as well as rear wings opening on a straight and closing through corners  and will be available to drivers at all times.

The fuel additionally, will have to be certified as 100 per cent sustainable by the FIA going forward. Teams can either use synthetic fuel made using sustainably sourced hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide, or a biofuel.

It remains to be seen how the new rules affect the standings in the season opener that takes place on Sunday at 9.30 IST.

All you need to know about 2026 Formula 1 season

Here’s the full list of teams and their drivers in action in the 77th season of the Formula One World Championship:

Saying hello 👋

This is the class of F1 in 2026 👊#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/O3kNiSjhap

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 6, 2026

Alpine: Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto

Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll

Cadillac: Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas

Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton

Haas: Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman

McLaren: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

Mercedes: George Russell and Kimi Antonelli

Racing Bulls: Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad

Red Bull Racing: Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar

Here’s the full schedule for the upcoming season:

8 March: Australian Grand Prix Albert Park Circuit

15 March: Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai International Circuit

29 March: Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit

12 April: Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit

19 April: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah Street Circuit

3 May: Miami Grand Prix at Miami International Autodrome

24 May: Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

7 June: Monaco Grand Prix at Circuit de Monaco

14 June: Barcelona Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

28 June: Austrian Grand Prix at Red Bull Ring, Spielberg.

5 July: British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire

19 July: Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps

26 July: Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring

23 August: Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort

6 September: Italian Grand Prix at Autodromo Nazionale Monza

13 September: Spanish Grand Prix at Circuito de Madring

26 September: Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit

11 October: Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay Street Circuit

25 October: United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas

1 November: Mexico City Grand Prix at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

8 November: Brazilian Grand Prix at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace Interlagos

22 November: Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas Street Circuit

29 November: Qatar Grand Prix at Lusail International Circuit

6 December: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit

Where can I watch the 2026 Formula 1 season live? 

Formula 1 fans in India can watch the 2026 season live on the Fancode website and application, or on the official F1 TV platform. Subscription prices on FanCode vary from Rs 99 for a Race Weekend Pass to Rs 1,499 for an Unlimited Live Stream Pass for the entire year.

F1 TV, on the other hand, offers three subscriptions that are priced at USD 19.99 (approximately Rs 1,840), USD 29.99 (approximately Rs 2,760) and USD 39.99 (approximately Rs 3,680) respectively.

Four-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen has launched a scathing attack on the new breed of F1 cars after the second day of testing in Bahrain on Thursday. The 28-year-old Dutchman, who had missed out on a fifth consecutive world title by just two points in December, described the new Formula One cars as “anti-racing” and “Formula E on steroids”.

Verstappen labels new F1 cars as ’not very Formula One-like’

Verstappen had clocked the second-fastest time of the day on Wednesday, the opening day of first leg of pre-season testing in Bahrain, running 136 laps around the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.

He was, however, less than impressed by the rule changes this year that have led to a complete overhaul of chassis and engines for every team, with the focus now shifting to energy management.

“To drive (they are) not a lot of fun, to be honest. I would say the right word is management. It’s not very Formula One-like. It feels a bit more like Formula E on steroids,” Verstappen said in his first press conference of the year.

“But the rules are the same for everyone, so you have to deal with that. As a pure driver, I enjoy driving flat out and at the moment, you cannot drive like that. There’s a lot going on.

“A lot of what you do as a driver, in terms of inputs, has a massive effect on the energy side of things. For me, that’s just not Formula 1. Maybe it’s then better to drive Formula E, right? Because that’s all about energy, efficiency and management,” he added.

‘I want to be realistic as a driver’

Verstappen added that while he likes the new look of the cars, everything else about them feels “anti-racing” to him. At the same time, he sounded somewhat sympathetic when discussing engineers and designers who have had to deal with the new regulations.

“Honestly, the proportion of the car looks good, I think. That’s not the problem. It’s just everything else that is a bit, for me, anti-racing,” he continued.

“On the other hand, I also know how much work has been going on in the background, also from the engine side, for the guys.

“So, it’s not always the nicest thing to say but I also want to be realistic as a driver,” Verstappen added.

The second leg of the pre-season testing will also take place in Bahrain. The 2026 season then gets underway in the first week of March with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.