Last Updated on March 28 2026, 3:07 pm

Its weekend three of the all new Formula One era and time for the Japanese Grand Prix. The iconic Suzuka circuit is hosting its 36th F1 event and over the decades has been the venue for many incredible memorable moments.

Ayrton Senna stalled his McLaren car on the grid in 1988, falling through the field to P14 before an incredible recovery drive in torrential rain to pass Alain Prost for lead in the closing stages of the race to claim his first F1 title.

In an emotional season finale in 1996, Damon Hill became the first son of an F1 champion to claim the title himself, leading from start to finish whilst team mate Jacques Villeneuve suffered a mechanical failure which ended his race.

 

 

 

 

Alonso: “50% of my team…” can drive this car

Yet arriving at the historic venue in 2026, the paddock talk was less of another electrifying weekend of racing and all about the energy management the drivers are having to deal with under the new FIA regulations. This means the once fearsome challenge of the high speed corners at Suzuka has been neutered with drivers lifting and coasting rather than pushing to the limit.

No longer are the drivers on the limit as they take the Degna turns or R130 given they must drive just under 98% throttle level to ensure the hybrid motor efficiently deploys it energy. Fernando Alonso was critical of the new rules dente the FIA having dropped the maximum level of electrical power deployment from 9MJ to 8MJ.

When asked in the media pen about the challenge of driving at the historic Japanese circuit, the Spaniard was blunt. “It’s gone,” said Alonso. “I told you in Bahrain the chef could drive the car now. Maybe not the chef, but 50% of the team members I think, at least, can drive in Suzuka, because as I said a few times already the high-speed corners now became the charging station for the car.

“So you go slow there, you charge the battery in the high speed and then you have the full power on the straight. So the driver’s skill is not really needed anymore. You just need to back off the throttle or turn down the battery and you charge the thing. So no more challenge in the high speed.”

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Faster in the corners means slower on the straight

Aston Martin have plenty of problems with their Honda power unit and Alonso qualified just 21st for the Grand Prix. Yet even pole sitter Kimi Antonelli referenced the energy management issues observing: “Obviously, there are parts of the track where you’re a little bit limited, a bit handcuffed on driving because of energy,” said the young Italian.

The reigning world champion Lando Norris had missed out on a significant amount of track time in the practice session. He qualified in P5, but his view of the current Suzuka challenge was not positive. “It still hurts your soul when you see your speed dropping so much — 56 kph down the straight,” he revealed.

Williams driver Carlos Sainz noted the limitations of the new rules are particularly acute in qualifying and less noticeable in practice because the drivers are now pushing harder around the entire lap. “A bit disappointed in qualifying as the more you pushed the slower you went,” said Sainz. “That’s what happened to me in Q2.

“I think I had a bit less slipstream in my lap and I was in clean air. I went quicker in every corner, slower in every straight and I went 0.1 seconds slower. And that’s simply because I spent more time full throttle because I went faster in the corners and pushed harder at a high speed, pushed everywhere.”

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Carlos Sainz suggests certain teams may dif their heels in

The spaniard was critical of there new regulations and the lot it is creating for Formula One. “Super clipping came into the deployment a bit and there was lift and coast also in that quali lap, so overall not good enough for F1,” he said.

“Listening to the FIA yesterday they seem to be pushing and have a plan in mind, but I’m a bit worried that some teams will push back and be against changing it too much because they have other interests. But I think we have made it clear from the drivers that it needs to get better and hopefully they will listen to the drivers instead of the teams.”

Of course changing the rules mid-season usually requires unanimous agreement amongst the teams and why would Mercedes who a romp[ing away with the championships consider that?

Charles Leclerc has been consistently vocal in his opposition to the new rules this year, slammed them one again following his P4 in qualifying. “I honestly cannot stand these rules in qualifying,” said a visibly emotional Lelcerc. “It’s a fucking joke. I go faster in corners, I do on throttle earlier, fuck’s sake I lose everything in the straight.”

Another Lando Norris setback as new McLaren crisis appears in Japan

 

 

 

Qualifying no longer driving as fast as possible

The problem the drivers are suffering is if they use too much electrical power through the high speed corners, on the straights the car runs out of battery charge. Even worse the hybrid PU then begins using the internal combustion engine too charge the battery, thus diverting energy from the driveshaft.

“It’s very frustrating because coming [into] Q3 – at least myself and that’s how I approached qualifying since forever – you go into that last lap and you try things that are a little bit above whatever you’ve tried before,” Leclerc explained.

“And when you do that, the system needs to re-optimise everything while you are driving, basically. So, for some reason, whenever I get to Q3, I start losing time in the straights,” Leclerc complained. “So I make time in corners, I lose time in straights, and this is very frustrating because you never really put a lap together because you’re always compromising one thing for another.”

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2026 problems predicted 3 years ago

The Monegasque driver explained in days of yore a driver pushing too hard would lose a small amount of time on a qualifying lap from a snap, but now “you also pay triple the price in the straight.”

“This is very frustrating because qualifying is all about us trying to find the limit and to play with the limits, and at the moment whenever you play with the limit you get destroyed in the straights,” continued Leclerc.

“So you’ve got to stay right underneath it, which is an art in itself, and all the good drivers need to make the difference anyway, but I think it’s less rewarding for the drivers that like to really push over it. Most of the time in Q3 that’s paid off, but not with these cars.”

The problem with the new powertrains were predicted back in 2023, as the likes of Mercedes, Audi and Honda pushed for a balance of electrical power at 50/50 with the internal combustion engine. It looks obvious this move was a mistake, and on there grounds of safety – maybe the FIA can force through the necessary changes to return qualifying to its pride of place.

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March 28, 2026 by The Judge and C J Alderson