Martin Brundle has a tear in his eye over 2026 F1 rules
Sky F1 star Martin Brundle admitted he had "a bit of a tear in my eye" on live TV at Spa, saying 2026 Formula 1 regulations have blunted iconic high-speed corners at Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone. The veteran said the rules "hurt us on the high-speed circuits" and wants the concept scrapped by 2030 or 2031.
Key Takeaways
- Martin Brundle spoke emotionally on Sky Sports F1 ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
- He said great corners at Silverstone and Spa feel diminished under the 2026 rules.
- Drivers have complained that battery energy drain cuts speed through famous high-speed sections.
- Rule tweaks for 2027 and 2028 aim to ease the problem; Brundle wants a bigger reset by 2030 or 2031.
What did Martin Brundle say on the Sky F1 broadcast?
Speaking live ahead of Sunday's race at Spa-Francorchamps, Brundle did not hide his frustration with how this year's cars behave on classic tracks. "I think we're all still struggling to understand it, to be honest," he said, according to the Daily Express.
"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," he added.
The former Formula 1 racer made clear he cannot wait to see the back of this regulations cycle, even while noting that cars still look fast when they race side by side.
Why do the 2026 rules hurt tracks like Spa and Silverstone?
Both circuits are famous for high-speed stretches that fans and drivers love — Maggotts and Becketts at Silverstone, and Eau Rouge, Raidillon and the Kemmel Straight at Spa. Under the current package, batteries run out of energy through those sections, so cars are nowhere near as quick as they were last season.
Drivers raised the issue at the British Grand Prix two weeks earlier. The same pattern returned in Belgium, turning a usually feared circuit into more of a relative doddle. BBC Sport has also noted that the new engines leave cars especially energy starved on Spa's long flat-out runs, with so-called "super-clipping" when speed tails off.
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Will Formula 1 fix the problem soon?
Brundle pointed to changes already lined up. "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," he said on the broadcast.
Those near-term tweaks were ratified by the World Motor Sport Council in June. Over the next two years, engines are due to shift from a roughly 50/50 combustion-electric split toward something closer to 60/40 in favour of the internal combustion engine and sustainable fuel, easing battery drain.
Many see that as a stop-gap until a wider reset at the end of the cycle — around 2030 or 2031, as Brundle also suggested. Until then, he argued, teams must "get on top of the complexities," even if Friday running still looks spectacular from the pit wall.