Ex-Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner has accused Max Verstappen of “throwing his toys out of the pram” with his criticism of the new 2026 regulations.
Verstappen has been the biggest critic about F1’s new cars and launched his most scathing attack yet on the 2026 regulations following his retirement from the Chinese Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver, who was running sixth before he suffered a cooling issue with his power unit, likened the new-look F1 to “Mario Kart” and called the rules “a joke”.
“It’s terrible,” the four-time world champion complained. “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. Boosting past, then you run out of battery, the next straight they boost past you again. For me, it’s just a joke.”
But Steiner, who ran the Haas team between 2016 and 2023, hit out at Verstappen.
“It’s not the fault of the regulations [Max’s retirement], that’s the fault of the team if the car cannot start,” Steiner told talkSPORT.
“It’s like the two McLarens not starting, that has not happened for a long time that two cars cannot even start a race.
“You cannot blame the regulations because most of the other cars started the race, except for [Gabriel] Bortoleto and [Alex] Albon.
“Max is not happy because the car is not where he likes it to be. Red Bull have a brand new engine and it’s advanced technology, it takes some time for the engineers to get used to.
“I think I’m actually surprised how good the new engine manufacturers like Ford and Audi are, so it will improve after a little bit of time.
“Max always throws the toys out of the pram when it doesn’t go his way quite quick.”
Verstappen sits eighth in the drivers’ championship with only eight points to his name following the opening two rounds of the season.
In contrast to Verstappen, drivers including Lewis Hamilton have spoken positively about the new F1 regulations.
After claiming a long-awaited first podium for Ferrari, seven-time world champion Hamilton described his tense battle with team-mate Charles Leclerc as “the best racing I’ve ever experienced in F1”.
“Guess why… because he is having success, the opposite of Max, when you are doing good that’s what it’s like,” Steiner said of Hamilton’s feedback about the racing.
“It has been over a year since he has been on the podium in a main race so obviously he’s enjoying it.
“Why would he be negative in something he has been successful in? It’s going to take some getting used to [with the new regulations] but it’s very good to see Lewis back.”
