Domenicali defends 2026 F1 rules as driver criticism mounts halfway through season

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has defended the sport’s controversial 2026 technical regulations at the summer break, acknowledging driver frustration while pointing to improved fan satisfaction figures as evidence the new rules are working.

Halfway through the 2026 season, the regulations — which place a significantly greater emphasis on electric power and energy management — have drawn sharp criticism from drivers. Max Verstappen set the tone during winter testing, labelling the current cars “Formula E on steroids”, a view that has since been echoed by several of his peers. Oscar Piastri added a specific concern about the power units’ “self-learning elements”, warning that drivers can be caught out by “forward-thinking algorithms” embedded in the systems.

The criticism has been most pointed at energy-starved circuits. At both Silverstone and Spa, drivers described the 2026 cars as painful to manage, and the British Grand Prix was the only round to receive a significantly lower fan rating than its 2025 equivalent — a result F1 attributes to the race finishing behind the safety car and the particularly eventful nature of last year’s Silverstone event.

Domenicali, speaking during a media call at the start of the summer break, was careful not to dismiss the drivers’ concerns outright. “We are not here to put the tape on the mouth of anyone,” he said. “The beauty of our sport is that everyone can have an opinion, but the opinion is an opinion. There is someone that has the duty to have a line. There are certain drivers that prefer, of course, certain things. I think that in the process we have highlighted the need to be constructive in that respect.”

The F1 boss drew on data from the sport’s Fan Voice programme — a panel of 60,000 supporters who rate the entertainment value of each grand prix — to support his position. According to those figures, 66% of respondents rated 2026 races as “good” or “excellent”, up from 60% across the 2025 season. Spa, despite being one of the circuits where energy management complaints were loudest, saw its fan rating rise by 24%.

Domenicali was broadly bullish about the sport’s overall health. “The championship is really at the highest in terms of people following, people that are coming to the track and people that are, in any case, new or old fans appreciating the success of the things we are doing,” he said.

With the second half of the season still to come, the tension between driver sentiment and fan data looks set to remain one of the defining narratives of F1’s new regulatory era.