Max Verstappen has outlined how he would reshape Formula 1, calling for fewer races, fewer triple-headers, a return to V8 engines, reduced media commitments and a more geographically logical calendar.
The Red Bull driver’s vision is markedly different from the direction Formula 1 has taken in recent years, with an increasingly crowded schedule, extensive commercial activity and complex hybrid power units. Verstappen would instead prefer a simpler championship built more closely around the drivers, the racing and the expectations of long-standing fans.
Max Verstappen wants fewer F1 races and triple-headers
Formula 1 is constantly debating its future, from regulations and entertainment to how the championship can continue expanding its appeal to a global audience. Verstappen’s preferred model, however, begins by reducing rather than adding.
One of the central elements of his vision is a smaller number of races each season, accompanied by a significant reduction in triple-headers, where three Grands Prix are held on consecutive weekends.
Such sequences place significant pressure on teams, mechanics and drivers, and Verstappen believes they add strain without necessarily providing an equivalent improvement in the quality of the championship.
His preference would therefore be for fewer events, but with greater anticipation and importance attached to each race. The issue has become increasingly relevant as Formula 1 continues to operate one of the longest schedules in its history, with the 2026 Formula 1 calendar featuring 24 Grands Prix.
Verstappen would bring V8 engines back to Formula 1
Alongside a more sustainable calendar, Verstappen would also like Formula 1 to use what he describes as “a real engine”.
The comment reflects his preference for a more traditional mechanical character than the highly sophisticated V6 hybrid power units of the modern era. In particular, the Red Bull driver would favour a return to V8 engines.
Verstappen has long been critical of certain aspects of the newer generation of Formula 1 cars and has repeatedly expressed nostalgia for a championship in which the engine sound, weight and mechanical character played a more prominent role.
Less media work and more focus on driving
Another major part of Verstappen’s ideal Formula 1 concerns media duties and the large number of promotional activities surrounding each Grand Prix weekend.
His preference would be to cut back on what he considers unnecessary commitments, reducing the extensive media exposure and side events that now fill race weekends and allowing drivers to concentrate more heavily on the sporting and competitive side of Formula 1.
Verstappen has never hidden his dislike of some of the activities drivers are required to take part in and has frequently made that frustration clear through sarcastic remarks.
During Formula 1 social-media activities at the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix, for example, he joked: “I love these kinds of games. When I was a little kid, I thought: when I’m an F1 driver, I’ll definitely want to play all these games.”
Verstappen wants a more logical geographical F1 calendar
The final major element of Verstappen’s proposal concerns the global logistics of Formula 1.
The world champion would prefer the calendar to follow a more logical geographical sequence, beginning in Europe, moving into Asia and then continuing towards the Americas rather than repeatedly switching between continents throughout the season.
Such an approach would reduce the chaotic long-distance travel that currently characterises parts of the championship and would also help limit the logistical and environmental impact associated with moving Formula 1’s enormous infrastructure around the world.
The structure of future calendars remains an important topic for Formula 1, with organisers continuing to balance commercial expansion, existing circuits and logistical requirements. The planning around the 2027 Formula 1 calendar has also highlighted how complex those considerations can become.
Verstappen wants Formula 1 to prioritise quality over quantity
Verstappen’s vision is not simply an objection to individual features of modern Formula 1. It represents a broader preference for a championship with less logistical and commercial clutter and a greater emphasis on the core elements of the sport.
In his ideal Formula 1, the racing, the drivers and the machinery would take priority over the quantity of events and promotional commitments surrounding them.
Whether such a championship could realistically emerge is another question. Formula 1’s current direction reflects commercial, regulatory and global considerations that extend well beyond driver preference.
However, Verstappen’s comments provide a clear alternative perspective on what the championship could become: fewer races, fewer exhausting sequences of events, simpler engines and a calendar designed around geographical logic rather than constant intercontinental movement.
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