Canada excitement down to drivers, not cars - Verstappen

Max Verstappen says Formula 1’s exciting racing in the Canadian Grand Prix is down to the quality of the drivers and nothing to do with the 2026 cars.

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli fought over the lead in Montreal for the first 30 laps of the race before Russell retired, and then Lewis Hamilton closed in on Verstappen before taking second place in the closing stages. Races this year have often seen plenty of position changes and drivers able to follow closely more easily, but Verstappen says the cars are not the reason for exciting action.

“For me, even this season, of course, I’ve been racing also different kind of cars and especially last week, that reminds me how pure motorsport can be and how great the racing can be,” Verstappen said. “So, when I come back into Formula 1, the thing is of course here, especially most of the drivers, we’re the best in the world. So even if you would give us a rental car, we’ll give you a good show and we’ll race each other very hard and well.

“So it has nothing to do in that sense with the rules. But for me, while driving, it’s all a bit confusing. It’s not what Formula 1 should be about. It’s way too complex, all of this. Most of the rules, the fans don’t even know what we are dealing with while driving, what is allowed when you’re behind or when you’re the car ahead, what we have to do on a formation lap or what we have to do in an out-lap, or how much battery that we’re allowed to charge.

“All these things are just such a shame that we have to deal with all these things. For me F1 just needs to be more pure and I really hope that what they try to do next year will go through because I think that is necessary, the minimum necessary, to make it a bit more natural and a bit more back to normal, or at least a bit more pure racing.

“But like I said, as drivers, give us any kind of car, we’ll always race and give a good entertainment or a good show. Doesn’t matter, people say, 'Oh, but look now, the show is great, the cars were fighting,’ but it has nothing to do with the car. It just needs to be more pure.”

Despite his comments, Verstappen says he does enjoy the competition against his rivals, having been trying to fight back against Hamilton in the final laps on Sunday.

“It was very good. I enjoyed it a lot,” he said. “I think also when you are within a second at this track, we are very energy poor around here, and of course when you are within a second, you’re allowed to spend a bit more energy, so then on the straights of course you gain a bit of speed and around here that is very efficient actually.

“The last few laps I tried to get back, but it was good. I mean, we’re pushing flat out and it was just very nice for me. Also, I think it’s my first race where I basically had a normal race, nothing crazy happened, so that’s also nice.”