Steiner calls out Verstappen: ‘It’s not the rules – it’s Red Bull’

The heated debate around Formula 1’s 2026 regulations continues to roll on – but according to Guenther Steiner, it’s not really about the rules. It’s about who’s winning… and who suddenly isn’t.

And right now, that spotlight is firmly on Max Verstappen.

Grand Prix racing’s radical new era has flipped the competitive order on its head. With a 50/50 hybrid power split, aggressive energy harvesting, and the headache of “super clipping,” drivers are being forced into a new kind of racing – one that rewards strategic battery management as much as raw pace.

For Verstappen, it’s been anything but enjoyable.

“If someone likes this, then you really don’t know what racing is,” he snapped after a bruising weekend in China. “It’s not fun at all. It’s like Mario Kart. This is not racing.”

Not the fault of the regs

But Steiner isn’t convinced the outrage is about racing purity as he told talkSPORT.

“It’s not the fault of the regulations,” he said. “That’s the fault of the team if the car cannot start.

“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 the new engine manufacturers like Ford and Audi have done, 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.”

It’s a brutal assessment, but one grounded in Red Bull’s shaky start. Poor launches, inconsistent energy deployment, and reliability issues have left Verstappen fighting the car as much as his rivals.

And in a season where the margins are tighter than ever, that’s proving costly.

Hamilton thriving as the tide turns

While Verstappen wrestles with frustration, Lewis Hamilton is embracing the chaos.

In Shanghai, the Ferrari driver surged to his first podium with the Scuderia – and his verdict on the new rules couldn’t be more different.

“I had so much fun, we had a great start…it was one of the most enjoyable races I’ve had in a long time, if ever,” he enthused well all was said and done.

To Steiner, the contrast is telling.

“Guess why?” he said. “Because he is having success, the opposite of Max, when you are doing good that’s what it’s like.

“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.”

Read also:

• Montoya targets Verstappen and Norris: ‘There’s the door!’

Steiner’s remarks tap into a broader narrative that has followed Verstappen throughout his career: brilliance under pressure, but little patience when things fall apart.

Whether Verstappen’s complaints reflect genuine concerns about the spectacle or simply the sting of losing remains open to debate. But if Steiner is right, the solution isn’t in rewriting the rulebook – it’s in fixing the car.

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