Formula 1 tried to go further with next year's regulation changes than it was allowed to, and Stefano Domenicali reckons Max Verstappen would have liked the version that got blocked.
Answering a question from GPblog during a summer-break media call, the F1 president and CEO said the 2027 engine tweaks already signed off — aimed at reducing the role of energy management during races — were not the package F1 originally wanted.
"You know very well that we wanted to be even more aggressive on that, but that was what the teams accepted," Domenicali said. "I think Max would have been very happy with that."
He was blunt about why it landed where it did. "We can't forget that there is a governance structure in place. To change the regulations, the teams and manufacturers need to agree with the FIA and us."
That is a notable admission from a series that has spent six months absorbing driver criticism while defending the rules in public. Verstappen labelled the 2026 regulations "Formula E on steroids" during winter testing and has barely softened since. Oscar Piastri called the power units a crap way of going racing. Lando Norris, fresh from winning in Hungary, argued F1 wrecked its own rulebook chasing new manufacturers such as Audi. Fernando Alonso pointed out the current cars carry less energy than an F2 car over a lap of Spa.
"You know me, we are not here to put the tape on the mouth of anyone. I mean, the beauty of our sport is that everyone can have an opinion, but the opinion is an opinion," he said. "There is someone that has the duty to have a line. There are certain drivers that prefer, of course, certain things. I think that in the process we have highlighted the need to be constructive in that respect."
His preference is for the argument to happen off-camera. "I prefer to discuss things [between] four walls to find solutions," Domenicali said. "But as I said, I think that the more you are vocal on certain things that are out of the scheme, the more the negativity is not on the sport. It's becoming on the personal side."
He also defended the origin of the rules, which he frames as survival rather than choice. With the car industry pushing hard towards electrification when the regulations were drafted, F1 risked being left with two engine suppliers. "I go back to the thing that this change was connected to a reason, and that was a vital reason," he said. "Otherwise, we would be here to talk about our sport, another sport."
Where Domenicali and the drivers diverge most sharply is on whether anyone outside the paddock has noticed. Speaking to the BBC, he suggested the technical complaints simply do not register with the audience.
"There is a lot of action on the track. People are loving it. They are focused on what is happening on the track," Domenicali said. "They don't understand our technology, division of 'clipping', or whatever it is, because it's too technical for the wider base that we have."
RaceFans editor Keith Collantine noted the awkward edge to that argument: the extra overtaking this year is frequently a product of drivers deploying energy at different points on the lap rather than genuine wheel-to-wheel racing, a pattern some have taken to calling yo-yo racing.
F1 has numbers on its side, at least. Its Fan Voice panel of 60,000 supporters rated 60% of last year's races good or excellent; this season that figure is 66%. Spa's rating rose 24% year on year. Hungary scored identically to 2025. Only the British Grand Prix fell significantly, which F1 attributes to the race finishing behind the safety car.
For all the defending, the sport keeps changing the thing it says is fine. Rule tweaks arrived after round five, and the heavily marketed 50-50 split between combustion and electrical power is being abandoned for a 60-40 balance by 2028.
On Verstappen's future, Domenicali is relaxed. "Max is an incredible driver. I think Max is in a situation where he loves Formula 1. He loves the future," he said. "My opinion is that Max will stay with us, and I really hope so."
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*Originally published on [Formula 1 News](https://newsformula.one/article/domenicali-f1-wanted-bigger-2026-rule-changes-for-verstappen). Visit for full coverage.*