Brundle left ‘with a tear in my eye’ by what F1 has lost

Martin Brundle has delivered one of his bleakest verdicts yet on Formula 1’s current regulations, admitting the sport has lost something special after watching another weekend where some of its most iconic corners were no longer driven flat out.

The former Grand Prix driver and respected Sky Sports commentator did not hide his disappointment during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, where drivers were once again forced into lifting through high-speed sections of Spa-Francorchamps to harvest battery energy under the current power unit regulations.

After similar scenes unfolded at Silverstone just weeks earlier, Brundle believes the spectacle is paying the price, with legendary corners no longer demanding the commitment that once defined them.

‘I’ve got a bit of a tear in my eye’

Brundle admitted he is still struggling to come to terms with what the latest generation of regulations has taken away from Formula 1, particularly at two of the championship's most revered circuits.

"I think we're all still struggling to understand it, to be honest," Brundle told Sky F1 last weekend in Spa.

"I've got a bit of a tear in my eye, because we've lost all the great corners at Silverstone and here we are at Spa with the same situation. These new regulations hurt us on the high-speed circuits."

Brundle’s comments reflect the growing frustration surrounding F1’s current rules, which have produced increasingly common "yo-yo" racing, with drivers sacrificing speed through corners to recharge their batteries before attacking on the straights.

While the result has been plenty of overtaking, much of it has come through differences in energy deployment rather than outright racing performance.

The effect was particularly striking at Spa, where even Eau Rouge – long regarded as one of Formula 1's greatest flat-out challenges – required drivers to lift.

Brundle wants F1 to move on

Although tweaks are already planned over the coming seasons to reduce the worst effects of the current package, Brundle made little secret of the fact that he wants Formula 1 to leave the concept of extreme energy management behind altogether.

"We're doing something about it for '27 and '28 and we have to get rid of this concept as soon as possible, in 2030 or 2031," he continued.

Despite his criticism, Brundle acknowledged there is still plenty to admire about modern Formula 1 machinery when viewed up close.

"That aside, this is what we've got and, when I'm out on track on a Friday, wow, they look fast. And when they're side by side and ducking and diving, it looks a lot of fun to watch,” he admitted.

“But, for now, they've got to get on top of the complexities, and there are a lot of them."

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His closing remarks offered a note of perspective, but they did little to soften the underlying message. For Brundle, the breathtaking speed of today's Formula 1 cars cannot fully compensate for what has been lost.

At circuits built on courage and commitment, the need to conserve energy through corners has, in his eyes, stripped away part of the sport's identity—and left one of its most respected voices longing for a return to something simpler.

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