Max Verstappen wants Formula 1 to bring back the sound, emotion and responsiveness of V8 engines, even if that means sacrificing some of the enormous top speeds achieved by modern cars. The Red Bull driver says he would happily see F1 cars reach around 300 km/h rather than 350 or 360 km/h if lighter machinery and naturally aspirated engines could restore the sensations he remembers from visiting the paddock as a child.
The four-time world champion has spent his entire Formula 1 career racing turbo-hybrid machinery, but his preferred future for the championship looks very different. Verstappen wants lighter cars, a much smaller role for electrical energy and engines that respond immediately to a driver’s throttle inputs.
Max Verstappen wants V8 engines back in Formula 1
“I want to feel the thrills again, the noise, the goosebumps from the V8 engines, the ones I was used to hearing when I walked around the paddock as a child,” Max Verstappen said as he reflected on an era of Formula 1 that he never experienced as a Grand Prix driver.
Speaking to the BBC, the Dutchman made clear that outright top speed is not what defines the appeal of a Formula 1 car for him.
“I don’t care if we go 300 km/h instead of 350 or 360 km/h,” Max Verstappen said. “F1 needs to go back to V8s, even just for a simple matter of driveability. We need light cars that respond immediately to the inputs from the driver.”
That desire for greater responsiveness fits with Verstappen’s wider criticism of the current generation of Formula 1 machinery. During the 2026 season, he has also struggled at times to extract the behaviour he wants from Red Bull’s car, with the RB22 exposing weaknesses that have limited Verstappen’s performance at several circuits.
Verstappen wants smaller batteries and no turbo
Verstappen’s criticism is not restricted to the latest 2026 power units. He believes even Formula 1’s previous generation of turbo-hybrid engines compares poorly with a naturally aspirated V8 when judged purely on the sensation of driving.
“Even the power units from the previous generation are horrible compared with a V8, which is the best thing for a racing car,” Max Verstappen added. “I would reduce the batteries to a minimum, just enough to have a sort of push-to-pass system, and I would also get rid of the turbo so you don’t have the problem of turbo lag.”
His preferred concept would therefore retain a limited electrical element rather than abandoning hybrid technology completely. Instead of making battery deployment a fundamental part of normal lap performance, however, Verstappen would use electrical energy primarily as an additional overtaking tool.
Top speed matters less than emotion for Verstappen
For Verstappen, the most important difference is emotional. Long before he became a Formula 1 driver himself, he grew up around racing and experienced the noise and vibration of previous generations of Grand Prix machinery at close range.
Those memories remain his reference point for what an F1 car should feel and sound like.
“The emotion you got from the roar of the cars that were in the garages when I was a child was on another level,” Max Verstappen concluded. “It gave you goosebumps.”
That is why the Red Bull driver is willing to trade outright speed for a different kind of performance. For Verstappen, a Formula 1 car capable of 350 or 360 km/h does not automatically provide a better experience than a lighter car travelling more slowly if the latter is more responsive, more visceral and more demanding in the traditional sense.
His preference is therefore clear: lighter Formula 1 cars, naturally aspirated V8 engines, minimal battery involvement and no turbo. Above all, Verstappen wants future F1 machinery to restore the sound and physical sensation that first made Grand Prix racing special to him long before he became one of its world champions.
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