Verstappen feels "like myself again" as battery-free Monaco qualifying revives his love of F1

Max Verstappen admitted Monaco qualifying felt like a return to form on Saturday, describing it as the first time in the 2026 Formula 1 season he had driven in a way that felt truly natural — free from the battery management constraints that have drawn his repeated criticism.

The four-time world champion has been among the most outspoken critics of the 2026 powertrain regulations, which split power output 53-47 between the internal combustion engine and electrical components. That balance places heavy demands on energy harvesting, leading to significant fluctuations in power delivery across a lap that Verstappen has previously likened to the boost mechanics in Mario Kart.

Monaco, however, offered a rare reprieve. The circuit’s abundance of low-speed corners makes it straightforward for cars to recharge the battery through a lap, effectively removing the need to manage energy deployment. For Verstappen, that changed everything.

“If you can go flat out and you can just select the gears that you want to use in the corners, it’s always going to be better,” he said. “So, I finally felt just myself again in the car, let’s say like that, with the way you want to use the gears. Unfortunately, of course we can’t do that in too many places on the calendar, but that’s what makes it more and more natural to drive.”

Verstappen also offered a more measured take on the chassis regulations, noting that the narrower 2026 cars have improved his sightlines through corners. “The chassis regulation is not bad at all,” he said. “With the cars being a little bit more narrow, I think it was alright. I quite like now the vision on the front axle is a bit better around apexes again.”

Despite his renewed confidence behind the wheel, Verstappen acknowledged he was surprised to be fighting for pole position at all. Red Bull had left Friday practice well below expectations, and concerns heading into the weekend centred on the team’s historically poor performance over bumps and kerbs — a weakness that the technical middle sector of the Monaco lap tends to expose.

Those concerns proved well-founded. Verstappen was the fastest driver through the first and final sectors in Q3, but Kimi Antonelli’s superior pace through the middle sector ultimately proved decisive, denying the Dutchman pole position.