The obvious answer: the concept worked, at least in terms of external impact. In reality, Formula 1 produced more of a fictitious spectacle. More on that later.

Hamilton finds Formula 1 racing “very fun” and also likes Schumacher

First of all, to those who were impressed. Lewis Hamilton (who finished fourth) called it a “very fun race, to be honest.” Sky expert Ralf Schumacher said: “As is often the case, you have to give the regulations a chance and wait for the first races. When it comes to overtaking, I can’t remember seeing it like that in Formula 1.”

At the beginning, Russell and Leclerc fought a tough battle for position, with the lead changing several times. That was surprisingly entertaining, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff emphasized accordingly:

“Anyone who said there wasn’t enough of a show has been proven wrong. I also think that the racing hasn’t made much difference to previous years – on a track that is one of the most difficult in terms of energy management.”

Due to the many complex modes, Formula 1 returnee Sergio Perez feared a “video game race”. In fact, the technical terms we have to get used to read like something out of a science fiction novel: Overtake mode, Boost mode, Straight mode, Corner modeplus abstract terms like Lift and Coast or Super clipping.

Leclerc expressed himself diplomatically, highlighting the demands of his job: “It’s extremely difficult because it’s not just the driving. Everything you do has a huge impact on the rest of the lap. You have to think a few steps ahead. All the parameters make it very difficult to anticipate and react to everything the person in front of you is doing.”

“It’s very artificial and dependent on what the power unit decides and sometimes does randomly. You just get overtaken by five cars and sometimes you just can’t do anything about it.”

Verstappen is bitingly sarcastic: “It was great, I had a lot of fun…”

Ex-racing driver Timo Glock outlined the apparent spectacle on Sky using the example of the lap-long duel between Russell and Leclerc. The show was right, certainly. However:

“In order to overtake, I have to use more battery. So it’s clear that on the next straight I’ll have the problem of having to defend again. That makes overtaking look good, but that has nothing to do with overtaking per se. The driver is simply at the mercy of the battery. If you don’t have any more, we’re talking about a 30 to 40 km/h difference in speed. That can also lead to dangerous situations.”

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen, one of the pioneers of the anti-attitude, reacted in a typical Verstappen way: unvarnished, honest and bitingly sarcastic. How did he feel about the race? The Red Bull driver just laughed after finishing sixth: “It was great. I had a lot of fun, it was a top race…” And then seriously: “We have to change a lot of things, but that’s not possible now.”

Part two of the Formula 1 class of 2026 will follow next week: the Chinese Grand Prix.