We’ve spent a lot of this year unpicking the key problems with Formula 1’s 2026 rules package, ones highlighted by drivers, teams and the fans. And informing you of what’s going to change about them. 

But this week we got the chance to put those concerns directly to F1 and quiz championship CEO Stefano Domenicali, F1 2026’s most enthusiastic fan. 

Edd Straw and Jon Noble went to F1’s communications base at Biggin Hill to put those concerns to Domenicali and press him on why he’s convinced most fans actually love the 2026 rules. 

You can watch the full podcast at the end of the article, or listen to it here. But below you’ll find snippets of what to expect - and why Domenicali doesn’t believe there are major problems. 

'F1 has not any problems'

Domenicali believes qualifying - criticised for not being a flat-out spectacle any more - will be “something that will be definitely improved” in Miami because of the rule package agreed for implementation there. 

But asked by The Race whether that will solve all the problems or whether further tweaks will be needed, Domenicali said: "I think this is not a problem of resolving the problem of Formula 1. Formula 1 has not any problems, Formula 1 is in great shape, just to make sure that is clear to everyone. 

“And the vast majority of fans have been, since the beginning, very positive [about] what they see in terms of race action.

“You are the experts on this matter. But we are getting sometimes too philosophical or too technical in things that the vast majority of people do not perceive. 

“So I do believe that this focus will stay in the right forum, because it's the nature of F1 to discuss and be able to improve. But it shouldn't be at the centre of the focus for the vast majority of fans.

“It is the nature of someone who wants to protect the business to react if they see that there are things that need to be taken in a different direction. The approach will not change, but I think that the focus should now be really on what has to be done. 

“If you're asking me also, if this will be enough to answer other questions that were posed before. Maybe yes, maybe no. I don't know. I don't have that answer.

"For sure, there will be a focus within the teams, the drivers, and the FIA, who is the one that has to coordinate everything, that has that responsibility as a regulator, to think, what could happen in the next couple of years?” 

Edd Straw asked Domenicali how F1 can measure how happy fans are with these regulations. 

“It's very simple. You check it. Sold out every race. First things that everyone with their eyes can see. It is amazing,” Domenicali said. 

To which Straw interjected, “Tickets were sold before this year?”

Domenicali replied: “No, no, no. Even now, so far is all good. So I don't see this negativity. We have data that our people can give you in terms of real numbers. It is all positive. 

“You are getting too [into the] engineer [mindset], and that's why sometimes we miss the spot of: people want to have action, want to see things that are creating the right place to fight for something. 

“So personally, if there is something that I would say, ‘it is negative’. I would say I have no problem to say that. We're always listening. You know me very well, so I'm listening. But someone has to take the decision. I mean, we are not here that we can offer only one product. 

“I was fascinated by some comments that came the other day when they say, ‘ah there is a lot of attention now on GT’. Yes. Max Verstappen is an F1 driver there. Put a lot of eyes there. Kimi Antonelli. Who is he racing for? Formula 1. He went to Imola [to wave the starting flag at the World Endurance Championship season opener]. And it was everyone talking about Kimi Antonelli, with all due respect.

“So F1 is still a bright light that is inspiring a lot of fans, a lot of people. Look at the bigger trajectory. Look at the bigger picture. Therefore, I would say in that respect, I'm really looking forward to seeing how this championship will finish, because there will be a lot of action on the track. 

“[It] will be fascinating for you to explain, because the success of F1 is thanks to what you're doing together with us, because without your voice explaining what is behind the scenes, what is actually so fascinating, it will not be possible. 

“So even for us, we have the duty to explain that in a very positive way, because otherwise we will shoot ourselves in the foot, that this doesn't make any sense. But that is not the defensive position."

'Too much focus' on complaints 

There have been many high-profile criticisms of 2026’s ruleset from drivers such as Verstappen and Lando Norris, and that speaks to a “lesson learned” for Domenicali. 

“There's been too much focus on comments on certain drivers that have been taking a lot of discussion of the hardcore fans in that direction,” he said.

“That is something that is a lesson learned. These kinds of things should have been handled in a different way. That's for sure. 

“Not because you don't need to cover anything, because there are so many positive elements - and I once again go back to the things that is stating the obvious. This change was needed to keep Formula 1 relevant in the ecosystem of motorsport. Otherwise, we forget the genesis of everything. 

“So that is the only thing that [is a] lesson learned. I think that the focus of people that are responsible of our sport was taken out in the wrong place. 

“That's what I can say. Yes, definitely so.”

You can watch the podcast in full below. Or sign up to The Race Members’ Club here to enjoy it ad-free: