“Sounds Like a Vacuum Cleaner”: Ford Handed a Tongue Lashing for Forcing Max Verstappen to Drive “Lame” Electric Car

Ford has marked their return to F1 with a technical partnership with Red Bull from the year 2026 onward, when the new regulations for the power unit will kick in. This would also mark the complete end of the team’s partnership with Honda, which has definitely resulted in some broken hearts. Nevertheless, the wounds will heal with the passage of time, but for now, we have a few things to talk about in this newfound partnership.

The reason behind Ford joining the grid falls in line with the sport’s expansion plans in North America. The American giant plans to promote its electric fleet through the sport, which appears ironic to most of the fans. And keeping that in sight, the brand has already started promotions with the help of the F1 champions, Red Bull and Max Verstappen, even though red flags galore for the F1 team. The fans were not pleased when they saw their favorite driver in the Ford Pro Electric SuperVan, the SuperVan 4. The feeling of “look how they massacred my boy” prevailed.

Ford received a severe backlash as a result of the skepticism surrounding EVs, as well as the love for the V8 sound. Fans didn’t bother about the vehicle’s 50.0-kWh liquid-cooled battery to power four electric motors, which promised 1973 horses and a zero-to-62-mph time of under two seconds. All they cared about was the noise produced by the van.

Fans didn’t spare any insult for the drive

The SuperVan 4 includes a full roll cage, FIA-compliant racing seats, motorsport-grade brakes, and more. But did anyone care about it? No. As Max drove the specially modified van at neck-breaking speeds, the sound produced was called all sorts of names, which highlights the hate and resistance around the electric drives.

Calling out Ford, one of the fans ruthlessly commented, “Sounds like a b*llsack trimmer”, while the other added, “Oh nice !! It’s sound exactly like my electric vacuum cleaner”

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The others were not so brutal: “Not feeling it at all without hearing an engine.”

“dentist engine [crying emoji]”

“Expected some sort of v8 rumble, what a disappointment.”

“It’s cool but imagine a twin turbo voodoo in the back.”

“Not feeling it at all without hearing an engine.”

On a different note, the hate for electric cars, in general, came out: “Electric [puke emoji]”

“Zzzzz lame. They keep pushing e stuff…”

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Max Verstappen, however, was spared by the fans and trolls. His driving was appreciated and was called the only good thing about the partnership.