Rookie Bortoleto Fires Back At F1's 2026 Doubters: 'Turn The Page'
Formula 1

Rookie Bortoleto Fires Back At F1's 2026 Doubters: 'Turn The Page'

16 July 2026 1 min readBy F1 News Desk (AI-assisted)

Audi rookie Gabriel Bortoleto has told F1's 2026 critics to move on, insisting the cars are still fast and fun — a pointed rebuke to Max Verstappen and the drivers who say the new formula has taken the edge off the sport.

Key Takeaways

  • 1.We need to adapt to that and it's life." The comments land as a rebuke to Max Verstappen, the sharpest critic of the 2026 rules, who has described weekends where "every lap is survival" and floated walking away from the sport.
  • 2.He does not deny the lifting the new formula demands — "It's 280[km/h], so I'm still lifting to do that corner" — but refuses to treat it as a crisis.
  • 3."I don't think we've lost the magic of the sport.

While much of the Formula 1 grid has spent 2026 grumbling about the new cars, Audi rookie Gabriel Bortoleto has told his rivals to move on.

Asked at the British Grand Prix whether the sport had lost its spark, Bortoleto pushed back hard. "I don't think we've lost the magic of the sport. We are still driving f***ing quick through Copse," he said. He does not deny the lifting the new formula demands — "It's 280[km/h], so I'm still lifting to do that corner" — but refuses to treat it as a crisis. "I think we should turn the page," he said, arguing the grid "cannot spend three years talking about the same problem." His verdict: "The cars are still fun to drive. It's different. We need to adapt to that and it's life."

The comments land as a rebuke to Max Verstappen, the sharpest critic of the 2026 rules, who has described weekends where "every lap is survival" and floated walking away from the sport. The divide isn't about experience: Lando Norris has openly teased Verstappen, saying he "can retire if he wants." Others worry less about the driving than the show — Oscar Piastri has cautioned that energy-limited tracks such as Spa could serve up flat, deployment-choked races.

Spa, one of the calendar's most power-hungry layouts, will settle little but say plenty. A dull race arms the critics; a strong one makes Bortoleto's "turn the page" the line of the weekend.