Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have contrasting thoughts on F1’s new power unit regulations. The Red Bull driver tore into the news rules shortly after his DNF at the Chinese GP. 

Verstappen said: “It’s not fun at all, no. It’s playing Mario Kart. This is not racing. I mean we were slower this weekend, so we were fighting Haas and Alpine the whole race. Of course some other cars yes. Look at the racing, you are boosting past and then you run out of battery the next straight, they boost past you again. For me it’s just a joke.”

However, Hamilton feels a lot happier with the regulations, saying it’s now easier to follow cars, making the racing experience “the best” he’s had. The Ferrari ace said:

“Yeah, the cars are easier to follow, much better than past years. You can get very close. There’s not a bad wake where you’re losing too much downforce. 

“I think it’s the best racing that I’ve ever experienced in Formula 1. Of course, these guys are pulling past us at crazy speeds, but to be able to all be so close… It’s great that we have the good start at the moment and hopefully that stays the same through the year. 

“Given that they’ve gone for a different option where they have more power, we’ve got to figure out how we can improve our straight-line speed. But hopefully it was an exciting race to watch for you guys because it was awesome in the car. 

“It felt like go-karting, back and forth, back and forth, and you could really position your car in a nice way where there was a thin piece of paper between us sometimes, but we didn’t exchange any paint. I think that’s down to great drivers and respect.”