'F1 in 2026 is a complete joke'

Formula One Management, or FOM for short, keeps telling everyone that F1 has never been in such good shape. If you complain about the current state of the sport, you’re a whiner who doesn’t understand that millions of fans have joined. Those very millions FOM is so proud of, however, witnessed one big farce in Malaysia.

That F1 can’t race in the rain has unfortunately already been accepted. It remains strange that the pinnacle of motorsport can’t race when it’s raining, but by now people are used to it. That when they finally do start racing, it’s so dry that they go for intermediates and skip the full wets: oh well, what does it matter.

But when they finally get going in Sepang, with the track almost dry by then, it goes horribly wrong. It appears to be an error with an FIA system. Different cars, with different engines in the back, had the same problem. Bottom line: a rain race never happens because the track is already completely dry.

In terms of impact, it resembles the 2005 United States Grand Prix, when only six drivers appeared on the grid due to issues with the Michelin tires. What exactly went wrong will become clear later. That this is damaging to a sport that already isn’t taken seriously at times seems obvious.

This moment once again shows that F1 needs to return to basics. A car race where the best drivers compete around a circuit in racing cars. Cars that can run in all conditions, sound like F1 cars, and don’t stall at the slightest thing or suffer from electronic issues. In short: V8 or V10 engines without all sorts of complicated systems, tires you can race on in the rain, and tires you can push on for an entire race (as was the case in Baku).