Last Updated on April 21 2026, 12:20 pm
Formula One claims it has acted swiftly and decisively to change the 2026 rules which have proven so far to be a farce. Firstly, as a matter of safety, F1 and the FIA needed to act to prevent the horrendous closing speeds which have been visible between cars who are deploying electrical boost and others who are harvesting energy.
Last time out in Japan, Haas F1 driver Oliver Bearman was blasting through the right-hander on the approach to Spoon when he came upon the dawdling Alpine of Franco Colapinto who was storing up electrical energy. The result being the Haas F1 driver ended up in the wall and suffered a massive 50g impact. While he was helped away limping, fortunately the British driver suffered no broken bones.
To prevent this, it has been agreed that in ‘non-hard’ accelerating zones, the maximum deployment from the car will be cut from 350kW to 250kW. Where the full amount of power will be available is out of a corner onto a straight, but in the case of Bearman in Suzuka on the entrance to Spoon corner, he would have had just under a third less electrical boost which may have mitigated the incident.
The obsession with absolute speed
The headline number which will disappoint some of the engine manufacturers is that the maximum charge which can be recovered across a single lap is being reduced from 8MJ to 7MJ. This will add around a second of lap time, a matter which F1 appears pretty concerned about for some reason. A far safer and better solution would have been to cut this number by another 1MJ to 6MJ, which would see the drivers run for most of the lap without resorting to strange energy recovery tactics.
Yet despite no TV viewer or most spectators at the circuit being able to detect a two-second-a-lap slower F1 car, F1 stats appear important to the commercial rights holder and the regulator of the sport. At the recent Goodwood event some of the most exciting racing was between Mini’s and Escort 2000’s. It’s not the matter of absolute speed that F1 should obsess about, but the excitement in the racing. That said, the new 7MJ will mean less lift and coast from the drivers and more attacking into the apex of the turns.
One of the most farcical elements of the current set of regulations is the sight of a car hurtling down the straight, only to seem to lose power with hundreds of metres to go. This is not merely due to the electrical energy being completely depleted, but to ‘super clipping’ where the internal combustion engine (ICE) diverts some of its power from the rear axle of the car to charging the battery—generator style.
In what may appear a strange decision, the rate of electrical energy recovery will be increased during super clipping from 250kW to 350kW. Yet in fact, this will shorten the length of time the car is super clipping and therefore minimise the loss of power from the ICE in creating forward drive.
Date set for Alpine Mercedes deal
Off the line assistance for slow starters
One of the other dangerous features of the all-new 2026 F1 rules has been at the start of the races. Some cars have been extremely slow to get away on a regular basis. Audi, for example, has lost on average six places at each of the four race starts to date and, as TJ13 analysed, this is due to the architecture of their engine design.
Having opted for a large turbocharger, it takes the Audi power unit longer for it to spool up and deliver the extra power in off-the-line acceleration. Add into that that no assistance to the cars from the electrical store is allowed until the cars reach the speed of 50kph. Additional safety car protocols will now be trialled to warn other drivers of a slow-starting car, although exactly what they are is not stated.
Further, the FIA claims it is examining ways in which slow-starting cars may receive an instant boost to prevent them being sitting ducks on the grid, although the claim this will not alter the balance of performance appears to be naive. “Safety and sporting fairness remain the FIA’s highest priorities,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA president. “These changes have been introduced to address the issues identified in the opening events and to ensure the continued integrity and quality of the competition.”
The reality is that some of the acceleration and deceleration curves have been smoothed out to prevent drastic instant changes and to some extent the FIA hopes the drivers will mostly be capable of driving flat out during qualifying. TJ13 reserves its judgement on this matter. It appears the 7MJ energy recovery limit remains too high—but lap time currently appears the most important measure for F1’s regulators.
Abu Dhabi to make way for Saudi GP return
12 ‘power limited’ circuits where FIA have broad powers
There are some sweeping broad powers available to the FIA to deal with specific circuits where energy recovery is deemed to be ‘low power.’ Here is where we will surely see 6MJ recovery limits allowed for each lap and the number of circuits where the FIA may impose further restrictions is now listed as 12.
Yet how the “low power start detection mechanism” will work, other than to allow electrical energy to be deployed under the 50kph limit, is unexplained—and will result in a performance advantage to cars suffering from this phenomenon. Of course, F1 is currently totally focused on band-aid measures to fix the problems entirely of its own making, yet an ongoing discussion will soon emerge over whether the architecture of the current F1 powertrains should be modified for 2027.
On the back of this, another issue will slowly emerge and that is: how long will this generation of F1 powertrains be allowed to afflict the fans of the sport? Hugely expensive and completely unrepresentative of the direction of travel for road car technology, one of F1’s founding principles must be re-examined.
Ex Ferrari Man Hired by Red Bull to Prop-up Mass Exodus of Staff
Time for a shift in focus from F1’s leaders
Is the era when F1 has been somewhat the road car test laboratory over? Should the new focus around technology development be based on different principles? Maybe principles which preserve the history and the art of a driver and racing machine at the maximum limit would be a fair starting point, together with a serious reflection on the combustion engine technology which has powered top-flight racing for over 125 years.
Formula E and its Extreme E brother is about the electrification of racing; F1 does not need to follow where others have led. Having just seen and heard the 2009 Brawn GP car with its screaming high-pitched V8 at the recent Goodwood members’ meeting, trust me, it drew the biggest crowds of the weekend as Jenson hurtled around the two-mile historic West Sussex track.
F1 has indeed lost something of its soul and the disappearance of the extreme sound of machinery at its absolute limit of physics – is something F1 must reconsider. It is as fundamental to the racing series as has been the road car technological development – if not more so for the fans.
Would you like to see more TJ13 Formula 1 coverage? Add us to your favourites list on Google to receive trusted F1 news.
NEXT ARTICLE: Russell Sends Clear Mercedes Message as Verstappen Rumours & Antonelli Pressure Mount
Last Updated on April 20 2026, 10:00 am
Russell downplays contract talk despite strong start – Despite growing interest, George Russell has made it clear that he wants to reveal little publicly about the performance clauses in his current deal with Mercedes. After three races in the new Formula 1 season, the British driver sits second in the World Championship standings, just behind his teammate, with Mercedes emerging as the early benchmark.
This strong start has inevitably brought attention back to the details of Russell’s contract, which he extended last year in a deal described only as ‘long term’. While neither side disclosed specifics at the time, it was acknowledged that performance-related clauses were included.
When asked what his current form means for those clauses, Russell remained characteristically tight-lipped.
“You meet the targets and move on. I’ll be here with the team next year, and that’s it. There’s really nothing more to say about it,” he said during a recent media session reported by Speedweek……………… READ MORE
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13 and a career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media. Having trained in investigative journalism and contributed to several European sports outlets, Hunt brings rigour and polish to every article. His role is to sharpen analysis, check facts and ensure TJ13’s daily output meets the highest editorial standards.
