‘If he wants to, he can retire’: Norris responds to Verstappen's criticism of F1 cars

Lando Norris has responded to Max Verstappen's criticism of the 2026 F1 cars, saying the Dutch driver could retire if he wants to.

The Red Bull driver shocked many with his first public verdict on the F1 cars, terming them "anti-racing."

The 2026 F1 cars have been opined differently, as there has been a paradigm shift in how they are driven. There is now a 50/50 split in power delivery, with the electric component seeing a significant increase.

As a result, to attain the maximum electric power, drivers have to adopt an unnatural driving style, consisting of persistent lift-and-coast and revving the power unit in lower gears than usual at different parts of the track.

Norris said change is part of the game, and things are never static; you have to keep yourself updated if you want to dominate the F1.

When he was updated bout the Max Verstappen comments on the new changes. Lando Norris said that if he wants to retire, he can, but he has to adapt to that.

"Yeah, if he wants to retire, he can retire. I don't expect Max is going to go out and not give a shit - he's going to try and win. It certainly doesn't feel as quick as the past few years, and it certainly doesn't handle as perfectly. But I'm sure if he came into this and this was the F1 car he started driving, then he probably would say it's amazing," Norris said.

“Comparing to the older cars, it doesn't feel as pretty and beautiful to drive, but it's still pretty good. And it's still early days, it's early days of a regulation that's meant to be a good amount slower. If we fast-forward to the end of this year and look into next year already, we're going to be going a lot quicker by then.”