Fred Vasseur isn't here to sugar coat things. The Ferrari team principal sat down with Auto Hebdo and gave his straight assessment of the current Formula 1 regulations, and honestly, he's got some valid points on both sides of the fence. The 58-year-old acknowledged that racing has definitely become more open compared to what came before, but he's also got some real concerns about where the sport is heading with power levels.

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On the positive side, Vasseur reckons the energy management layer that's been added to racing beats what we had with DRS. Instead of just pressing a button, drivers now have to think strategically about when to deploy their energy, or risk running out of juice later on the lap. He pointed to the restart at Spa after the Safety Car as a perfect example, where teams were either recovering energy before the line or shedding some to have more firepower for the restart. It's a skill-based element even if it's not traditional racing, and that counts for something in his book.

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But here's where Vasseur gets a bit frustrated. The regulations have continued reducing engine power while the chassis keeps getting better, and that's robbed some genuinely iconic corners of their teeth. Corners like Pouhon at Spa and Copse at Silverstone used to be proper challenges. Now drivers just flat-foot it all the way back to the pits. When Vasseur started in the sport, those corners actually demanded something from drivers. Not anymore.

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The good news? Vasseur's optimistic that between 2027 and 2028, the FIA will sort out this imbalance. He reckons they'll rebalance the thermal and electric side of things while keeping maximum power steady, which should make those corners feel like corners again. It's not the harshest criticism we've heard about the current era, but it's definitely honest. Plenty of other big names like Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso have voiced similar concerns, so Vasseur's definitely not alone in thinking something's got to give.

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