Charles Leclerc comes to the defence of the 2026 rules overhaul... and once again it is a driver with a team that appears to have done a better job.
Despite Toto Wolff's insistence that "younger fans, the vast majority, through all the demographics, like the sport at the moment", the reality is a little different.
Fans, like the drivers, are divided, with the majority not in favour of the changes.
In as much as (championship leader) George Russell thinks the new rules are great, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, neither of whom has had the best start to the season, don't.
Now, Charles Lelcerc, who sits third in the standings, and only days earlier had referred to the revised F1 as "Mario Kart", and appears to be in the only car capable of taking the fight to Mercedes, has also come out in favour of the new rules.
"I enjoy it, it doesn't feel so artificial from inside the car," said the Monegasque. "Of course, you've got those overtakes where it's artificial, whenever someone is doing a mistake with the battery and completely drains it and then, there's a massive speed difference," he adds, virtually dismissing one of the main criticisms of the sport thus far. "But I feel like we are all converging a little bit towards knowing where shouldn't we go and where can we try and take the risk, that creates very interesting overtaking places. I think today (Sunday) was the showing of that."
The Ferrari driver had an entertaining fight with his teammate in China, but whether that was down to the new engine rules, the new cars or the sheer, dogged determination of two drivers determined to stamp their authority on the other is up for debate.
"I really enjoyed it," he said. "I'm not sure if you ask the team, they will reply the same. But I really enjoyed it. Honestly, these cars for races, it's actually quite fun and yeah, it was just a cool race.
"At the end of the day, Lewis was just stronger and I'm happy for his podium," he added. "I'm, of course, disappointed for losing out on the podium on my side, but I know I've given everything and at the end of the day, Lewis was just stronger this weekend.
"It was a very fair, hard but fair battle, which was nice and then, there's also a lot of tactics from inside the cockpit that is really cool. There was obviously this battle for who will get the overtake in the last corner and we both braked very early. And, the way you deploy and manage the energy, it was a fun race."
Interestingly, like Wolff, Leclerc agrees that qualifying has lost its magic.
"It's not those super high downforce cars that we used to have in the past," he said. "There are some things that we, of course, need to look at. To make it a little bit more Formula 1 like in qualifying because, I feel like there's something that we miss. But I know the FIA is working on it and hopefully, we'll find a solution for that."
However, his former teammate, Carlos Sainz, is in the other camp, and other than criticising the new rules is unhappy at the way the sport is being deliberately 'manipulated' to present the image that all is well.
As previously reported, on social media both F1 and the FIA have hidden negative responses to their claims that the rules are a success, while radio interaction has been heavily reduced for fear of fans hearing drivers criticise the rules. Onboard graphics have been manipulated, while in terms of sound and vision, the TV director cuts away whenever energy harvesting is about to compromise the onboard coverage.
"When you look at what they are doing with graphics and everything, they are trying to do their best to sell something that I think we all know is not the right formula for Formula 1," said Sainz. "So, I'm really hoping that there's going to be changes, because it's not the best formula.
"But as long as everyone is aware, I think it's ok for everyone to not get it completely right at the start of a season, and then make adjustments to ensure it gets better."
The Spaniard admits that Shanghai was better than Melbourne, but fears that tracks like Spa, Baku and Monza will once again show up the negative side of harvesting as drivers run out of power.
"I think in a track like China they are not that bad, because we are very energy-rich and harvesting-rich, which means the engines don't behave... they behave very differently to last year, but not as different as they did in Melbourne," he explained. "I think in Melbourne, Monza, Spa, it definitely needs a rethink. I think development will also do its part. But I'm also 100% sure this is not F1 the way I want to see it. I'm also quite sure that the people at the top also see that and know that."
Another issue is reliability, with four drivers failing to make it to the grid on Sunday, including his Williams teammate.
"For sure, it's not a great look for F1," he admitted. "I think not having two McLarens, a Williams, and Audi, shows how difficult we make our life to come up with super complicated engines with incredibly complicated software and batteries.
"It's still down to the teams to come up with a reliable engine," he continued, "but when the rules are so demanding and so constrained, it is difficult to come up with something reliable because it is extremely complex for everyone.
"I have in mind what the ideal Formula 1 should be, and this is very far from it. At the same time, I hope that development and fine-tuning the regulations should make things better in the future."
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