Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has claimed that Max Verstappen and Lando Norris should either be fined or removed from the sport for criticizing the 2026 regulations. Montoya said that the two, and other drivers, have been ‘disrespectful’ to the sport with their criticism of the new rules.
Max Verstappen has been a non-stop thorn in the side of the 2026 F1 regulations this year, criticizing them ever since he first came back from winter break at the Bahrain pre-season testing. The Dutchman has claimed that the regulations are “anti-racing”, and has even jokingly compared the new battery power and boost to playing Mario Kart.
The reigning world champion, Lando Norris, has also joined Verstappen in criticizing the regulations during recent races. At the Chinese GP, the McLaren driver said that no driver grew up wanting to drive what the new cars have become in 2026.
Former F1 driver turned pundit, Juan Pablo Montoya, believes that Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and other drivers who have criticized the regulations have been disrespectful to the sport, and should be fined or even shown “the door”.
“At some point, Formula 1 needs to do what the sports world in the United States does: for people who don’t respect the sport, there’s the door. They can leave or get a fine, so they truly learn to respect what they’re doing. That’s what I would do,” Montoya told AS Colombia [via Racingnews365].
Montoya then added that he does not mind the drivers having an opinion about the regulations, and that he is not asking the drivers to necessarily like them either. But the Colombian believes that drivers mocking the sport is where F1 should draw the line and fine the drivers who are making comparisons of it with video games.
Max Verstappen claims he is speaking for “most drivers” with his criticism of the 2026 F1 cars
Max Verstappen believes he is speaking for majority of the F1 field with his criticism of the 2026 F1 regulations. The four-time world champion also added that neither the majority of the drivers not the “real” fans of the sport actually like the new cars and rules.
Justifying his continued criticism of the rules, Verstappen said that only the drivers who are “winning” are supporting the new regulations to protect their advantage.
“I think they [the series organisers] understand where we are coming from as drivers. I speak for most of the drivers – some of course will say it’s great because they’re winning races, which is fair enough. When you have an advantage, why would you give that up, right? Because you never know if you’re going to have a good car again,” said Verstappen while speaking to the media at the Chinese GP.
“But if you just speak to most of the drivers, yeah, it’s not what we like, I don’t think it’s what the real F1 fans like. Maybe some fans like it but they don’t understand racing,” he added.
Max Verstappen then added that he hopes that the sport gets rid of the new regulations as soon as possible. He also said that the new rules and the “artificial” racing are not good for the sport in the long term.
Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar
