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Gary Anderson criticizes F1 minor tweaks not effective

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Gary Anderson criticizes F1 minor tweaks not effective

Former F1 car designer Gary Anderson agrees with Max Verstappen that little has changed despite the tweaks introduced for the Miami Grand Prix.

Anderson believes the changes introduced for the race in Florida were at most marginal, he explained in his column for The Telegraph. He added that it is not easy to fully assess how the changes have worked, given that the Miami track is more suited to the regulations than Suzuka.

After the Miami Grand Prix, speaking to GPblog, among others, Verstappen had a similar verdict. The Dutchman said: “I mean my car drives a bit better, but what I said before about the regulations is still the same. You still need to go a bit slower in places to go faster. It’s still not how I would like to see it. It’s still punishing you. The faster you go through corners, you go slower on the next straight. That’s not what it should be about. At least my car is working a bit nicer, so it’s a bit less stressful to drive.”

Anderson on the issues with the 2026 cars

According to the former F1 car designer, the issues the minor tweaks aimed to tackle, including super clipping and dangerous closing speeds, were still around. “Drivers were lifting a little at the end of the main straight in order to charge up the battery for their flying lap. The safety issue regarding excessive closing speeds appeared to be improved, but that does not mean that we will not see it again. I believe we will,” Anderson writes.

He added: “All this behind-the-scenes stuff is frustrating because even the most engaged viewer is going to find it hard to understand whether a driver is on pole because he rang the neck of the car or because 40 people back at base came up with a clever strategy on how to use the battery’s energy. Ultimately, we are roughly where we were before the rule tweaks.”

Anderson also stands by claims of racing becoming too artificial. “I want the driver to be responsible for how fast it goes. We are not seeing that at the moment and probably never will with these regulations. Ultimately, I think the tweaks were a token gesture to fundamental problems.”

Expanding on FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s goal of V8 engines returning to F1, the Northern Irishman concluded by suggesting a “noisy non-turbo V8 engine on sustainable fuel with a power split of 80/20” for the competition.