Racing
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Stefano Domenicali has pushed back against growing criticism of Formula 1’s 2026 regulations, insisting the championship is "in great shape" even as he admits the sport mishandled some of the debate around the new era.
In interviews with The Race, the F1 CEO argued that the health of the series should be judged by audience demand and commercial strength rather than by the technical arguments dominating discussion among drivers and hardcore followers. "Formula 1 has not any problems, Formula 1 is in great shape, just to make sure that is clear to everyone," he said. Domenicali pointed to sold-out races, strong sponsor interest and host-country demand, saying there is "a queue of countries that want to host a grand prix."
He also cited rising television audiences in key markets, with year-on-year growth reported at 26% in Australia, 32% in China and 19% in Japan. For Domenicali, those numbers matter more than arguments over details of the new rules package. "The vast majority of people watching around the world are not caring about joules, megajoules, these clips, super clips," he said, adding that F1 can become "too philosophical or too technical in things that the vast majority of people do not perceive."
The internal numbers F1 uses to support that position point to a more mixed picture than the public debate suggests. The Race reported that F1’s Fan Voice community has around 50,000 members and that its post-race polls typically receive about 2,000 responses. Across the first three races of 2026, Australia’s Excellent/Good rating dropped to 61% from 86% in 2025, with Poor/Awful climbing from 4% to 17%. But China improved from 50% to 68% in the top two categories, and Japan rose from 18% to 48%, while Japan’s Poor/Awful score fell sharply from 52% to 24%.
That helps explain why Domenicali sees no wider crisis, even after criticism from drivers including Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. He said F1 had learned from the way those reactions took over the conversation. "These kinds of things should have been handled in a different way. That's for sure," he said, calling it a lesson in where the focus had gone. But he defended the change itself as necessary "to keep Formula 1 relevant in the ecosystem of motorsport."
Domenicali did not suggest the rules are untouchable. He said listening remains essential and accepted that more refinements could follow as teams, drivers and the FIA continue working on the package. At the same time, he drew a line between constructive feedback and blanket negativity. "Listening is very crucial," he said. But, he added, "Listening doesn't mean that you always agree with what they're saying."
His broader argument is that F1’s pull extends well beyond a grand prix weekend and that even attention elsewhere in motorsport often still flows from its own drivers. Referring to interest around Verstappen in GT racing, Domenicali said: "Max Verstappen is an F1 driver there. Put a lot of eyes there." He made the same point about Kimi Antonelli after his appearance at Imola, asking: "Who is he racing for? Formula 1."
For Domenicali, that is the clearest answer to claims that the new rules have damaged the championship’s appeal. The technical package may still need refining, and he accepts the messaging around it should have been better, but F1’s leadership view is that the numbers, the crowds and the attention around its drivers show the sport remains the center of gravity in motorsport as the 2026 cycle develops.