F1 chief Stefano Domenicali is sure Max Verstappen will stay

SAKHIR – Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali has assured fans that the sport’s new engine era will still provide plenty of thrills and Max Verstappen is in no danger of walking away.

Red Bull’s four-time world champion has been outspoken about the new cars not being fun to drive and producing a situation that is “like Formula E on steroids” and “anti-racing”.

The 28-year-old has said before that he will stop racing if he no longer enjoys it, but Domenicali said there was no risk of that.

“I have a very good relationship with Max,” the Italian told reporters on a video call when asked what made him so confident.

“I know him very well. I spend a lot of time with him. That’s the reason. Full stop. He loves Formula One. There’s no doubt about it.”

Domenicali said he met Verstappen during testing in Bahrain on Feb 18 and had a very constructive talk.

“I guarantee you that Max wants and cares about Formula One more than anyone else,” he said. “He has a way of putting the point that he wants to say in a certain way.

“We’ll have a very constructive meeting also with the federation (FIA) to highlight what are his points of view of what he believes needs to be done to keep the driving style at the centre without changing the approach.”

Domenicali’s comments came after Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies had also rejected a suggestion that Verstappen will leave the sport.

McLaren’s reigning world champion Lando Norris, who in 2025 ended Verstappen’s run of four consecutive titles, had taken a contrary stance to his rival and suggested the Dutch driver could “go and find something else to do” if he was not happy.

The Briton said after testing on Feb 19 that it has been quite amusing to see the reactions to his take.

While he accepted that the new cars were very different to 2025 and “absolutely not” as enjoyable, he said it is still challenging and “good fun”.

“I’m certainly not going to change my job for anything else. I still have fun and it’s still the job that I love to do. But it’s certainly very different,” he said.

Verstappen had suggested Norris was in a small pop-up tent, compared to the rest under a bigger canvas, when asked if there were two camps of opinion.

The 26-year-old said he agreed with Verstappen on a lot of things, but reiterated: “It’s not that I don’t have fun out there.”

The rivals’ comments fuelled a lively online debate about what racing will be like this season with the balance between electric and combustion engine now 50-50.

That will mean drivers have to be tactical with energy deployment and regeneration, with the old drag reduction system replaced by a new overtake mode giving extra power for overtaking.

Describing it as a “new way of driving, a new way of interpreting the sport”, Domenicali said the fastest would still win.

“The cars are really beautiful, the sound is very nice,” he said during testing in Bahrain. “And if you go around the track here, it seems that there is the car like it was last year.

“In terms of speed, I’m pretty sure that the development that I can already see happening will make this car very, very fast at the end of the season already.

“I am totally positive to say that there will be another incredible year.”

Domenicali also confirmed that Turkey’s Istanbul Park circuit was close to a return to the calendar, likely as early as 2027 in rotation with a race on the existing calendar, but that the number of rounds would still be capped at 24.

The 2026 season, which starts in Melbourne on March 8, will feature one new race in Madrid in September. REUTERS