The qualifying format has now become a farce, given that drivers can no longer push flat-out for an entire lap. This is due to the complex, volatile requirements to manage the harvesting and deployment of their electrical energy. This was partially addressed by the FIA for the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, where the maximum energy the battery could deliver over a lap was reduced by 1/9th, from 9MJ to 8MJ. Even then, teams like Mercedes and Red Bull were using clever algorithms to ensure that on a driver’s “push lap,” the fall-off in power as the battery depleted was like falling off a cliff edge, rather than the intended gradual ramping down over two or three seconds.

Formula One now feels less like a racing series and more like an automotive laboratory experiment, with the cars occasionally disobeying the driver’s instructions. Lando Norris recently recounted a harrowing incident where his McLaren MCL40 overtook Lewis Hamilton without his permission through the high-speed 130R corner at the Suzuka track. “I didn’t even want to overtake Lewis; it’s just about the battery deploys, and I don’t want it to deploy, but I can’t control it. So, I overtake him, and then I have no battery, so he just flies past.” The World Champion then articulated the most worrying element of the new regulations: “When you are at the mercy of what the power unit delivers… the drivers should be in control of it, at least, and we’re not.”

F1’s new buzz word: “the tweak”

Even among the teams dominating the new era, there is no suggestion that the current scenario is all roses in the garden. However, to mitigate the criticism from fans and F1 analysts alike, a new term is repeatedly being used: “tweaks.”

With the enforced one-month break due to the war in Iran and the resulting cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, significant concerns are finally being addressed. Yet, there remains a pervasive air of complacency from the FIA, which ex-F1 racer and senior expert commentator Martin Brundle explains has resulted in driver safety being relegated to fourth on the list of priorities.

Following the frightening collision in Japan, which saw Ollie Bearman’s Haas lose control and slam into the barriers as he closed on an energy-deficient Alpine at a 50kph closing speed, Brundle is calling on F1’s governing body to stop fiddling around in the margins when it comes to safety. The 50G impact the British driver suffered was one of the largest ever recorded in F1 history, and it is a miracle that he left the car with only a bruised knee and no broken bones.

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“It’s a big issue for the FIA because driver safety is sacrosanct. I think they’re fourth in line in terms of priorities,” Brundle claimed on a recent Sky Sports F1 broadcast. “The top priority is the fans because they’re paying to be there. They haven’t bought into any element of risk, and they have to be protected. Next up are the marshals, the corner workers, because they’re not being paid to be there, but they assume an element of risk because they’re trackside.” Brundle continues, stating that the third priority is the pit crew, and finally, the drivers sit at the bottom of the list. “Everybody’s health and safety is sacrosanct, but the FIA will now have to make a change for Miami because the drivers have voiced this. It’s very much out there.”

The fearsome acceleration and speeds of the new F1 monsters are a genuine headache for the sport. Brundle adds that should a car fly into the crowd—reminiscent of the 1955 Le Mans disaster where 89 people were killed—the FIA will be held entirely responsible for its negligence.

“So, they will now have to do something and listen to the drivers,” Brundle adds, although he admits the FIA is hamstrung given that the new machines simply possess too much power. This is an issue first raised in the summer of 2023 by then-Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, who famously described the 2026 regulations as “Frankenstein monsters.” In terms of the persistent use by senior paddock figures of the term “tweaks,” Brundle believes they are merely fiddling in the margins while the hardware remains “fundamentally flawed.”

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What is required is a revolution, not a revision. The fundamental architecture of the new power units is the true culprit, specifically the heavy reliance on energy harvesting and massive, uncontrollable electrical power deployment. It is about time those in charge of Formula One accepted that a huge mistake has been made and that the current problems cannot be fixed by a few superficial adjustments.

However the rules are “tweaked,” it is now physically impossible for there to ever be sustained, flat-out racing with these new hybrid motors. Given it has been two weeks since the Japanese Grand Prix, progress toward meaningful change has been at a snail’s pace. There will be 40 days between when the cars were last on track and when F1 returns in Miami. The fastest sport in the world is behaving like an ocean-going liner that takes forever to change course.

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Meetings are being arranged to agree on further meetings, and as the old adage goes, a camel was designed by a committee intending to create a horse. F1 commercial rights holders, Liberty Media, do not want to address the current scandal for fear of driving down profits; they appear to believe the fans are reveling in the “fake” overtaking and prefer to bury their heads in the sand.

But it is time for leadership and to face down the manufacturers—Mercedes, Audi, and Honda—who are resistant to changing the monsters they were fundamental in creating. Ferrari, given their history and tradition, has begun to accept that the current hybrids are not the future of F1.

Decisions must be made by April 15; this will allow the World Motor Sport Council to ratify them before the Miami Grand Prix. Further, teams require time to simulate and prepare for the revisions. The fastest sport in the world is, ironically, painfully slow at changing tack when it is most urgently required.