Martin Brundle: 'Get rid of this concept as soon as possible'

Martin Brundle had “a bit of a tear in my eye” at the British and Belgian GPs. He believes that “all the great corners” at these venues have been lost.

Brundle blames the F1 2026 regulations for this, and is calling for their demise “as soon as possible.” FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is pushing for a return of V8 engines, running on sustainable fuels, by 2030, or 2031 at the latest. Count Brundle in.

Martin Brundle attacks F1 2026 regulations

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The new F1 engines, utilising a near 50/50 split of electrical and internal combustion power, have proven polarising to say the least.

The FIA moved to introduce a series of tweaks amid early concerns, and over the next two years, the balance will be tweaked slightly further towards ICE power.

But, the recent visits to Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps, two of the most iconic, high-speed venues on the calendar, has raised fresh talking points.

Fernando Alonso sounded the alarm over energy management ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix race weekend at Spa. His fears were seemingly confirmed later in the race weekend.

Max Verstappen spoke of Formula 3 power meeting F1 downforce during the second sector, which was being driven with no deployment.

Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris said that the iconic double-left hander of Pouhon was now taken flat out. Norris stated that Pouhon was “not a corner anymore.”

Brundle, the former F1 driver turned Sky F1 pundit, is not impressed.

Amid a Sky F1 discussion about George Russell’s mystery straight-line speed issues in the Mercedes, Brundle transitioned the conversation to criticism of the regulations.

Brundle believes that the drivers have a lot of “complexities” to master with these rules, and he is counting down the days until the end.

“I think they’re all struggling to really fully understand it, to be honest,” said Brundle of the rules.

“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.

“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.

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“That aside, this is what we’ve got. 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.

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

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