Max Verstappen used a spot on the P1 with Matt & Tommy podcast to lay out a blunt wish list: bring back V8 engines and scrap DRS in favor of a manual “push‑to‑pass” boost.
The rule he’d change
Asked what single rule he’d change, Verstappen answered, “Right now, change the engine back to a V8.” He argued it “fixes so many things,” calling a V8 “much better… so drivability; it’s lighter, much more fun to race with.”
Overtaking without DRS
Verstappen said a small electric boost—“like a push to pass”—could replace the Drag Reduction System entirely. “If you need like a tiny battery for like a push to pass, so we also don’t need the DRS anymore, that’s fine,” he said on P1.
He added that the assist should create chances under braking, not easy highway passes: it should be “powerful enough to generate an overtake, but at the end of the straight that you need to go for a move,” noting DRS is “way too powerful in places.”
His ideal setup
Verstappen summed up his preference as “V8, V10,” before conceding “it will be more V8 nowadays; that will be great. A lot more fun to drive. And then if you add like, a little battery for like a push to pass kind of thing, then I think it’s fine.”
All quotes above are from Verstappen’s appearance on the P1 with Matt & Tommy podcast as relayed in the source material.
