Verstappen hints at F1 stay with racing set to go 'back to normal'

Max Verstappen said planned changes to Formula 1's engine rules for next year would return racing "almost back to normal" and hinted he would stay in the sport as a result.

Verstappen said after the Japanese Grand Prix that he was considering his future because of what he sees as the damaging effect of this year's new engines on the experience of driving an F1 car.

F1 bosses are working on a package of changes that move away from the nominal 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power to reduce the need for energy management, which has dominated racing this year.

Verstappen said: "It will make the product better, so that means that I'm happier. And that's what I want. To be able to continue and perform well.

"For me, I'm happy where I'm at. I see the team really progressing. And that's also very exciting to see.

"I always wanted to continue anyway. But I always wanted to see change. And I think the change that's coming now is definitely very positive. Or, at least, I would say almost back to normal - so that's good."

The rule changes are being discussed between F1, governing body the FIA and the engine manufacturers.

They have agreed in principle to increase the amount of power coming from the internal combustion engine and reduce electrical power by the same amount.

Asked whether a resolution would increase the chances of him staying in F1 next year, Verstappen said: "Yeah, definitely. I just want a good product in Formula 1. And that will for sure improve the product.

"Hopefully that will happen next year. That will already help a lot, because I've always said it doesn't matter if I had a good car or not. It's just the product. And I think the product will improve like that, so naturally I think the enjoyment will go up as well."

World champion Lando Norris said: "That's a great direction that we all welcome as drivers. We all want that.

"Maybe it's not the perfect world that we all want, but it certainly will be in the correct direction, I would say."

His team-mate Oscar Piastri said: "It's a step in the right direction. But it's not fixed."

Mercedes driver George Russell agreed that the changes "will be positive" because they would reduce the effect seen currently where cars lose speed towards the end of straights as the engine switches to recharge mode and loses nearly half its power.

"The engine shouldn't lose power as you go down the straight, which you think is correct and the right thing to do," said Russell. "How it's going to impact racing I don't know."

The rule change is most likely to be achieved by increasing the fuel flow to the internal combustion engine, although this brings challenges because it impacts engine design and fuel-tank size.

But an agreement has not yet been reached and further talks aimed at finding a compromise are due to take place in Montreal this weekend.

Among the key issues are time and expense. Engine development takes time and it is already very tight for manufacturers to apply the changes in time for next year.

And some manufacturers want extra allowances to be made in the engine budget cap to enable them to pay for the development.

Verstappen arrives in Canada after his starring performance in the Nurburgring 24 Hours last weekend, where his car was on course for victory before a driveshaft failure with three hours to go.

"I've had a few days to process it," he said. "Overall it was just a great week. I enjoyed it a lot. Of course it was going to be my first big endurance race. Everything went really well, we had the car in good shape. I think we executed it very well.

"Unfortunately it's still a mechanical sport at the end of the day. We had that failure which, of course, cost us the win, because we had everything under control up until that point.

"But the whole experience of driving in the wet, changing conditions, the whole experience of sharing it with my team-mates... It was something that I really enjoyed.

"It was something that we prepared for a long time. We managed to get it all together for that weekend. It was really cool and it was also something that I would like to keep going."

Verstappen added that he would return to the race, F1 commitments allowing. "I want to win it," he said. "So I want to go back."