Drivers have made little secret of their frustrations with the new car designs that were introduced this year.Shifting to a near-50/50 split in engine and battery power, this year’s cars were always going to drive — and race — much differently to the previous generation.To some, the obsessive focus on battery management, and the concept of going slower in some corners to recharge the battery and then go faster over the entire lap, just wasn’t F1. “Anti-racing,” as Max Verstappen, the four-time world champion, put it.When concerns emerged in preseason, the message from F1’s CEO and president, Stefano Domenicali, was to wait and then cast judgement. The sport was ready to respond and has already done so with plans to reduce the battery reliance in two steps across 2027 and 2028.It hasn’t stopped 2026 from already being an exciting, story-filled year, especially with the rise of 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli and the revival of Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari. Fans continue to tune in and the grandstands remain packed.Yet for the drivers, the pangs of change were felt through the last race at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, and are anticipated again at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.These are two iconic circuits, featuring some of the fastest and most exhilarating corners on the calendar. But when he spoke prior to Silverstone, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso expressed his fear that both tracks would be “quite sad” with these cars, even quipping that Maggots and Becketts, one of the hardest high-speed sequences around Silverstone, would become a “charging station.”Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton overtook each other several times during the British Grand Prix. (Clive Mason / Getty Images)Both Silverstone and Spa are long circuits — Spa is the longest on the entire calendar — and have lots of straights, making them energy-starved and only exacerbating many of the drivers’ biggest gripes with the 2026 cars.The experience of then driving Silverstone did not change Alonso’s view, especially when it came to the racing product. He lamented that overtaking no longer required “any driver input or driver talent” due to the battery tactics.“You don’t need to outbrake anyone, you don’t need to overtake on the outside, you don’t need to take any risk,” Alonso told reporters after finishing one lap down in 18th. “You just press one button, and you overtake if you have a better power unit than the car in front.” Antonelli’s move to win the sprint race, sailing past a powerless Hamilton on a straight, somewhat supported his theory.Alonso wasn’t alone in his disappointment with Silverstone. Verstappen said he got “no enjoyment” from qualifying, reflecting on what the track was previously like through the high-speed corners. Haas driver Ollie Bearman called qualifying merely “OK” and said it “wasn’t special,” as it had been with the 2025 cars.