Max Verstappen finds old Red Bull ally in F1 condemnation

Sergio Perez has joined forces with former Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen and echoed his concern that the new-look F1 could start to resemble Formula E.

Four-time F1 champion Verstappen pulled no punches in his condemnation of the turn F1 had taken under the new wide-sweeping regulations, describing it as "Formula E on steroids", and "anti-racing".

Perez returns to F1 this season after a year on the sidelines following his exit from Red Bull at the end of 2024, and following four seasons as Verstappen's team-mate.

The veteran Mexican driver has joined F1's newest team, Cadillac, which has so far performed admirably in testing, even though a year ago it did not have an entry.

Perez concedes that the F1 he is returning to is "very different". Speaking to the media, including RacingNews365, he added: "This Formula 1 definitely feels extremely different to what I was used to.

"It's the biggest change I've had in my career, in terms of regulations, and it's very difficult to figure out what's going on with the energy, with deployment. All of that is tremendously difficult.

"A lot of this power unit comes into play much more than in the past, which is not ideal."

For this season, the cars are powered by a 50-50 split of combustion and electrical energy, whilst the power in the battery has increased to 350kW from 120kW, and from the MGU-K only, as the MGU-H has been removed.

It means the drivers are re-learning their trade, in particular when it comes to harvesting battery power, and then finding the ideal times for deployment across a lap.

For now, Perez is reserving judgment on whether F1 is enjoyable, especially as he can sense an element of FE coming into play.

"I want to see how the racing goes because, for me, the main fun is the racing," said Perez.

"At the moment, I just don't know how we are going to be racing. It seems like overtaking may be a little trickier, managing your energy.

"I don't want to jump to conclusions, but it could be like Formula E, so let's wait and see."

As to whether there is potential for chaos, he said: "I think so. I think it can be chaotic, especially in the first races, with everyone getting to know their power units, the management, when you can use the overtake button, the amount of energy you drain while you're using it.

"All of that is very, very, tricky."