In recent days, we at FWM (Formula1.it) had the pleasure and honour of exclusively interviewing Davide Valsecchi. As already mentioned, the former Sky Italia face proved to be a genuinely down-to-earth and helpful person, making himself available to our microphones for a long, informal conversation full of interesting ideas.
In the first part, we discussed young talents, focusing in particular on Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Leonardo Fornaroli. Now, however, we want to shift the attention to a highly topical subject: the new 2026 technical regulations, which have already raised more than a few doubts among drivers and insiders from the opening rounds of the season.
When we asked Davide what he thought of these new regulations, he answered us very frankly: “I'll tell you something, I am not excited at all, to be honest, and above all the start of the season did not make us enjoy them that much. I am speaking a bit for myself, but also from the feeling I get around, I don't know, I have the impression that they made the regulations a little too sophisticated, without thinking that there could have been some issues at the beginning.”
“On paper it could have been a bomb, but then the issues made it a bit too cumbersome, with too much difference in speed when someone is recharging. If you run out of battery a little earlier, it becomes a mess, there are loads of overtakes on the straights and nobody really goes for the braking zones anymore. Maybe it is a bit too sophisticated and exaggerated for the first races in Formula 1.”
“But I am also convinced that they will now adjust the aim a bit, as they already did in Miami by modifying some technical details. The teams will improve in terms of knowledge and development, and I am convinced that by the middle of next year we will not even notice anymore that it has changed.”
Speaking about safety and what still needs to be improved, especially to prevent episodes like the one involving Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto at Suzuka from happening again, the Italian said: “I don't know. On this, the drivers have a better feel for the situation. It does not seem to me that anything risky happened in Miami, apart from someone flipping over. But that could have happened with the other regulations too.”
“The drivers have the real feel for the situation on this, and they did not seem favourable to the new regulations after a couple of test races. Of course, though, it seemed to me that in Miami the show was better, that the issues were not so big and that the changes made had worked. That is my idea. They calmed down a bit that effect that was there before. They no longer get stuck on the straight so often and, in my opinion, the less it happens, the better. So, if they have to adjust something else, even by going quite far with the changes, I would do it. Because I'll tell you something: from home, if they lap two seconds slower, who cares? We do not even notice.”
Continuing, he then added: “From TV, but also live, when you see them flashing past, 340 or 310 km/h, who cares? Some things, however, seem extreme to me, like that Active Mode, with the wings going up and down basically on every straight, but what the hell did we do it for if everyone has it?”
“Maybe yes, with the wings always closed the loss of speed would have been even more obvious. But I don't know, there are some things that seem very sophisticated to me and perhaps they were not necessary, that is my feeling. Having said that, do I like it? No! Who cares, we have Antonelli leading, I will keep them like this until the end of the year. If they then manage to mitigate it a bit more, it becomes even better. If they calm down this effect of: ‘My battery is gone’, and the drop in speed, it is better.”
Speaking precisely about Antonelli, who is currently leading the Formula 1 World Championship for the first time in his career, we asked the Italian whether this Mercedes dominance was destined to last over time. This was Valsecchi's answer: “I hope so for Antonelli, but I have a feeling, namely that from mid-season onwards the McLaren guys will win quite a few races.”
Then, explaining this statement, Davide said: “That Mercedes did an excellent job with the engine and won all the races, yes, they were very good. For example, at the start of the year the McLaren engine would not start, so Mercedes were not good, they were very good. They made an engine that is a bomb and, for those they gave it to, it would not even fire up. Strangely enough, Gasly's was perfect, while at McLaren it would not start, and this basically cost them the first two weekends. Now, however, they are going strongly. In Miami Norris almost won, even though he then triumphed thanks to Antonelli, but Lando was still a protagonist.”
“In Japan, on the other hand, Piastri stood out. I say I have this feeling: from mid-season onwards McLaren will be very strong, because in recent years they have always shown us that they are capable of major performance comebacks and, since they have the best engine... thanks to Mercedes, I have this feeling. I think Mercedes will continue to stay at the front, also because, given the time they spent working on the power unit, more than a year, it is hard for me to imagine that now their rivals can just snap their fingers and recover everything.”
“For this reason, in my opinion Mercedes, also thanks to the engine, will always remain in the top positions, but McLaren could become a winning force and, if that happens, the championship would also become interesting.”
Davide Valsecchi then concluded his comment by saying: “McLaren is a bit scary because now they have a driver who has become World Champion, while the year before he took a beating from Verstappen, and therefore he is used to handling moments of pressure. Then last year he toughened up and came out winning from the challenge with Piastri.”
“On the other side of the garage they have the Australian, who took a beating last year, while this year he has gained a bit of experience. So I say, having that duo against you becomes difficult because it is not Verstappen, but damn, one has already won the World Championship and the other has a hint of experience, something that neither Russell nor Antonelli have.”
We thank Davide Valsecchi for the courtesy and availability shown during the interview. Partial reproduction of this exclusive content is possible with prior citation of the author (Giuseppe Cianci) and of the source Formula1.it with a link to the original content.
