Jack Ickx commented on the 2026 Formula 1 season and the implemented regulations. The Belgian believes that audience numbers are the thermometer for evaluating the rules.
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The category’s new set of rules has divided opinions, with drivers proving to be major critics. Max Verstappen, the most vocal on the grid, has even questioned his continuity in the category at the end of the championship.
However, the former Formula 1 driver sees the situation from another angle and believes that the public’s response is the most important point, making no sense to compare current F1 with that of other eras.
“We cannot make the mistake of comparing yesterday’s Formula 1 with today’s. My opinion doesn’t matter. What matters is observing how the audience is doing,” he told Motorsport.com
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“It all comes down to whether people continue to follow F1 and how much they follow it. The public is the key to everything. If Formula 1 keeps attention high and generates audience, then everything is fine. Without the public, nothing can be done,” he continued.
“In my time, we only saw four parameters on the dashboard. It was a completely different period from this one, where drivers need to think about many more things inside the car. But the public remains the key to motorsport’s success. People don’t care much about what’s under the hood. What really matters are the battles on the track: if the competition is good, if the challenge is intense. That’s what counts. And we’ve never seen such high audience numbers,” he concluded.
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