Max Verstappen's blunt assessment: It's a jungle in Formula 1.The four-time F1 world champion isn't a fan of the new 2026 technical regulations, despite working his way up from No. 20 on the grid to place sixth at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix last weekend.Verstappen predicted his Red Bull probably couldnt go any higher than fifth place this weekend in the Chinese Grand Prix even if he starts much closer to the front in Sunday's race in Shanghai because of the big gap between Mercedes and Ferrari and all the other teams.Honestly, its such a jungle out there at the moment," Verstappen said Thursday at the driver news conferences in Shanghai. I mean, I would hope that it gets a bit closer ... but its clear that at the moment we cannot fight with those cars.It's not the first time Verstappen has taken a swipe at the sport's new regulations, which he thinks are anti-fun, anti-racing and could potentially be dangerous.F1s new cars are complex, with unprecedented changes across the chassis and power unit, which now feature an almost 50:50 output split between the turbo 1.6-liter V6 engine and electrical energy harvested from the brakes one that requires a new, often counterintuitive driving style.One of Verstappen's concerns is starting the race with empty batteries in the hybrid cars. Franco Colapinto only very narrowly avoided Liam Lawson at the start of the Australian Grand Prix, with the Racing Bulls car was slow off the line with minimal battery power many drivers started with depleted batteries among the teething issues with the new rules.There are a few simple solutions, but they need to be allowed by the FIA, with the battery related stuff, because, yeah, starting with the 0% battery not a lot of fun and also quite dangerous, Verstappen said. "You can see, I mean, we almost had a massive shunt in Melbourne in the start. This is something that I think can be easily fixed.As for speculation he may quit if reforms aren't made quickly, Verstappen said: I dont want to leave, but I also hope, of course, that it gets better.Ive had discussions with F1 and FIA and, I think, we are working toward something, hopefully, and, hopefully that will improve everything," he said, without elaborating on what the changes might be. I hope already for next year we can already make a decent improvement.A 24-hour switchIn the meantime, in the search of more fun, he has confirmed this week he'll be driving his first 24-hour sportscar race at the historic Nrburgring Nordschleife circuit in May. F1 hasnt used it since 1976, when then-reigning champion Niki Lauda suffered severe burns in a crash.Its one of the best races in the world, its one of the best tracks. I mean, honestly, in a GT car for me thats like the perfect speed round there," Verstappen said. "I think if you go anything faster it can be a bit dangerous in places."I mean, Ive been watching it, of course, for a long time. I know a lot of my friends, of course, that have been racing in it already. They say its one of the best things ever, and I like racing other cars as well.The 28-year Verstappen says he still has career ambitions.I dont need to be only a Formula 1 driver, I can also do other things," he said. "Ive done this for a while and Ive achieved everything that I wanted to achieve, so thats why I want to explore other things, and I dont want to do them when Im 40 years old. So now I think this is the perfect age to do it.___AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing