Formula 1 Aramco Japanese Grand Prix 2026Formula 1

[Fezzik]

Just watched the replay of the entire race on F1TV. The words I kept hearing (some repeatedly) throughout the race from Alex and Jolyon were; battery, megajoule, battery pack, battery deployment, battery depletion, battery managment, harvesting. I might have forgotten some but if they wouldn’t have mentioned the drivers’ names and I closed my eyes just listening to the commentary, you could fool me this being a Formula E race.

FE doesn’t have this much focus on the battery and energy nowadays. Maybe some of the failed F1 drivers there need to come back and give the current crop a lesson

 

[Mattylatvala]

To be fair, without the changes to the PU, we wouldn't have Audi, Ford or Honda.

Yes the PU regulations are terrible, I say I'd reserve judgement until the first 3 races had been completed and we're there now. And I agree with all above, the cars look fantastic, they can actually follow, like, properly, for extended periods of time, but the engine rules are harming the spectacle in a way that simply isn't acceptable for ANY Motorsport, nevermind F1.

Question is, what can they actually do about it mid season? Is it feasible to increase the ICE output and decrease the battery output? How much power did the ICE component make before? 800bhp or something? Can these new ones get to that power figure without issue? Cut the battery output back down to 200bhp, 250 on boost but keep the capacity?

Let's hope they figure something out.

Its red bull not Ford, I didn't think people would fall for it but I'm not surprised lol, Honda left and decided to come back,all of this before making the regulations, meanwhile we lost Renault, so all these ****es for audi

 

[toastet]

Following the accident involving Oliver Bearman at the Japanese Grand Prix and the contribution of high closing speeds in the accident, the FIA would like to provide the following clarifications.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Red Bull is behind Haas and Alpine in the championship...

Let's see what teams can do in terms of development in the next 5 weeks. But I fear that it's just gonna end with Mercedes getting out of the break with an even bigger advantage.

If anything, I expect the most from Mclaren.
They've barely been able to race at all. I'd say it's pretty impressive Piastri finished 2nd from the get-go.
I expect the top 6 to be closer like it was in this race. I'm eager to see if Ferrari is going to deploy the macarena wing. But personally I expect Mclaren to make the most progress.

If only they could produce a proper livery...

 

[MagpieRacer]

Its red bull not Ford, I didn't think people would fall for it but I'm not surprised lol, Honda left and decided to come back,all of this before making the regulations, meanwhile we lost Renault, so all these ****es for audi

Red Bull build the powertrains yes, it's RBPT, I haven't fallen for anything. However, Ford wouldn't have got involved without the new regulations. It would just be RBPT, and whilst that may have yielded similar results, Ford have provided technical assistance, particularly on the battery side (hence their willing involvement in this set of PU regulations).

Edit: Renault were always going to leave at some point, the investment in the whole project has been, well, pretty much for nothing aside from Ocons freak win in Hungary.

 

[Dreadmed]

the cars look fantastic, they can actually follow, like, properly, for extended periods of time, but the engine rules are harming the spectacle in a way that simply isn't acceptable for ANY Motorsport, nevermind F1.

I'm not so sure about the following part myself, if only because the battery issues have been making it so difficult to judge how much of an effect dirty air is having on the current aero packages... up until now.

I say that (and admittedly it's Suzuka so there has to be a bit of leeway afforded) because once Kimi got clear air he absolutely took off, before and after the SC. There might also be more than a trace element of the early/mid 2010's RB philosophy in that Mercedes because they weren't exactly regaining the positions they lost at the start with complete ease.

 

[sillybilly]

Hmmmmm.....this whole "pass, but get disadvantaged onto the following straight" is, errrr, something.

I'm really surprised by the negativity. In prior race maybe the Ferrari's looked a bit too artificial and not genuine, however in this race it often but not always allowed a driver to re-attack a position. This relies on the defending driver's race craft considering multiple things : don't overuse energy defending, don't overheat tyres (same as last 10 years), position the car to get good momentum to re-attack, use driving skill to get on the power early to re-attack which could be a little trickier with the less downforce and less grip.

It just was not so much consistent disadvantaged to be a bad thing... and most drivers that got re-passed then adjusted their strategy and eventually managed to organise their overtake earlier or later, or keep a little extra energy to defend re-attack and then made the pass stick in the end. Except maybe Russel on Piastri.

There's a couple of racing precedents that might be relevant. DRS zones sometimes had multiple zones that one pass would then give DRS to another driver - sometimes the racecraft evolved that a driver would delay a pass to the second DRS so they couldn't be re-attacked. I heard ZERO complaints ever of that sort of thing...very rare occasion, maybe Saudi race, a driver would back off and allow another to go ahead so they could grab DRS and retake the position. This had a hint of malarkey and wasn't 100% appreciated which is why the DRS zones sometimes got adjusted, also sometimes sequential zones has a single detection point to avoid it looking too artificial if drivers can re-attaack too easily (the cost is that DRS then looks like a cheap pass to sort out drivers to their lap time speed capacity and isn't very good "racing").

In lots of racing, from carting to touring cars and historic racing, there's a manoeuvre called a switchback where a defending driver knows that they are under threat from a driver with momentum. The defender might stay on or near the racing line and make the attacker take a tight line into the corner that compromises the corner exit. The defender takes a more optimal line through the corner and has more momentum out of the corner and retakes the position. This pretty much gets ZERO complaints and is seen as good racecraft.

In the example of Piastri retaking position from Russell, he maintained an excellent position approaching the chicane and left the door open for George to dive in at a angle and speed that would compromise the middle and exit of the chicane. Piastri had such good momentum in the chicane right behind Russell, and then was able cleanly get the power down on exist that he quite possibly would have had a run to re-pass in cars from previous eras.

 

[Pie O My]

I'm really surprised by the negativity. In prior race maybe the Ferrari's looked a bit too artificial and not genuine, however in this race it often but not always allowed a driver to re-attack a position. This relies on the defending driver's race craft considering multiple things : don't overuse energy defending, don't overheat tyres (same as last 10 years), position the car to get good momentum to re-attack, use driving skill to get on the power early to re-attack which could be a little trickier with the less downforce and less grip.

It just was not so much consistent disadvantaged to be a bad thing... and most drivers that got re-passed then adjusted their strategy and eventually managed to organise their overtake earlier or later, or keep a little extra energy to defend re-attack and then made the pass stick in the end. Except maybe Russel on Piastri.

There's a couple of racing precedents that might be relevant. DRS zones sometimes had multiple zones that one pass would then give DRS to another driver - sometimes the racecraft evolved that a driver would delay a pass to the second DRS so they couldn't be re-attacked. I heard ZERO complaints ever of that sort of thing...very rare occasion, maybe Saudi race, a driver would back off and allow another to go ahead so they could grab DRS and retake the position. This had a hint of malarkey and wasn't 100% appreciated which is why the DRS zones sometimes got adjusted, also sometimes sequential zones has a single detection point to avoid it looking too artificial if drivers can re-attaack too easily (the cost is that DRS then looks like a cheap pass to sort out drivers to their lap time speed capacity and isn't very good "racing").

In lots of racing, from carting to touring cars and historic racing, there's a manoeuvre called a switchback where a defending driver knows that they are under threat from a driver with momentum. The defender might stay on or near the racing line and make the attacker take a tight line into the corner that compromises the corner exit. The defender takes a more optimal line through the corner and has more momentum out of the corner and retakes the position. This pretty much gets ZERO complaints and is seen as good racecraft.

In the example of Piastri retaking position from Russell, he maintained an excellent position approaching the chicane and left the door open for George to dive in at a angle and speed that would compromise the middle and exit of the chicane. Piastri had such good momentum in the chicane right behind Russell, and then was able cleanly get the power down on exist that he quite possibly would have had a run to re-pass in cars from previous eras.

I dunno....

 

[Veinz]

A crash like that was bound to happen, them skipping jeddah probably saved someone from an injury or worse.

 

[Famine]

It's just that my battery deploys, I don't want it to deploy, but I can't control it.

B1.8 Driving
B1.8.1 The driver must drive the F1 Car alone and unaided.

So... about that.

Its red bull not Ford, I didn't think people would fall for it but I'm not surprised lol

Good to see Tyrrell up at the sharp end again, back with the Ilmor engines.

 

[S_Ejnarsson]

Everyone but F1 would have a Deploy button and a Energy left meter and have the very skilled and highly paid professional driver decide when to deploy a ****load of horsepower. But i guess that didnt work for F1

 

[MagpieRacer]

Everyone but F1 would have a Deploy button and a Energy left meter and have the very skilled and highly paid professional driver decide when to deploy a ****load of horsepower. But i guess that didnt work for F1

That's what the overtake button and boost mode is. The general battery usage is effectively automated.

 

[S_Ejnarsson]

Im sorry if im uneducated in the field of modern F1, but is there a sensible explanation for it being fully automated?

 

[NotThePrez]

So... about that.

I was gonna say, I was under the impression that the drivers have at least some control over how the battery system deploys itself.

 

[Liquid]

Is it that they have no control in that they must use it?

 

[MagpieRacer]

I was gonna say, I was under the impression that the drivers have at least some control over how the battery system deploys itself.

Only in overtake mode (formerly manual override mode) and boost mode. The general recharge and deployment is automated via ECU mapping. Simulation predicts the best way to recharge and discharge over a lap of any given circuit and that's programmed in, uploaded to the ECU and off they go.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

This is worth a quick read on the basics of how it works. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...o-the-2026-regulations.6j0tS0hrHG2T01tpmK6XYz

 

[GroupB]

I thought the feed director did a particularly good job of either ignoring any on-track passes or cutting to them after they had been completed.

 

[Bram Turismo]

I thought the feed director did a particularly good job of either ignoring any on-track passes or cutting to them after they had been completed.

I was so annoyed at them not switching to Hulkenberg when he made a pass on Hadjar. Instead, they kept the camera locked on Russell where nothing was happening.

 

[hakhan]

Mercedes need to figure out their starts or they are going to start losing races.

 

[05XR8]

I dunno....

View attachment 1524652

Yo-yoing or rubberbanding? I guess PD have influenced the automotive world.

 

[Grand Prix]

I actually find the yo-yoing and energy management surprisingly fascinating. It reminds me of WW2 energy fighting between fighter planes. The cars now are more akin to P-47 Thunderbolts than F-4 Phantoms (still a bit of a lard ass, but a more agile lard ass), so perhaps that is fitting.

 

[Carpocalypse]

No further investigation on the incident between Bearman and Colapinto.

There's a part of me that can't help but wonder if the FIA feels can't really penalize Colapinto because a big component of the wreck was the difference in speed caused by the new engine regs.

I genuinely think superclipping is going to seriously injure someone, IMO.

Think about it, you're drafting off the car in front of you, suddenly, it loses 10 - 30 km/h, and smashes into the front of you, or you have to dodge like Bearman does, but you don't get as lucky as he did.

 

[Pie O My]

I genuinely think superclipping is going to seriously injure someone, IMO.

Think about it, you're drafting off the car in front of you, suddenly, it loses 10 - 30 km/h, and smashes into the front of you, or you have to dodge like Bearman does, but you don't get as lucky as he did.

Imagine wet races....

 

[05XR8]

Now that I understand what's going on, yeah, that's not cool. Might as well do like Super Formula and have teams make or choose their own engines.

 

[toastet]

Imagine wet races....

Electric deployment and harvesting is much more limited in the wet like the wings.

 

[WolfpackS2k]

To be fair, without the changes to the PU, we wouldn't have Audi, Ford or Honda.

Yes the PU regulations are terrible, I say I'd reserve judgement until the first 3 races had been completed and we're there now. And I agree with all above, the cars look fantastic, they can actually follow, like, properly, for extended periods of time, but the engine rules are harming the spectacle in a way that simply isn't acceptable for ANY Motorsport, nevermind F1.

Question is, what can they actually do about it mid season? Is it feasible to increase the ICE output and decrease the battery output? How much power did the ICE component make before? 800bhp or something? Can these new ones get to that power figure without issue? Cut the battery output back down to 200bhp, 250 on boost but keep the capacity?

Let's hope they figure something out.

If the FIA "accepting" this PU formula is what helped bring Audi into the series...well I don't care. To hell with Audi. They weren't, and are not, needed. Super annoying to see the series bend to the whim of an automaker that apparently should have just stayed in Formula E.

The Suzuka race quite disappointing in that drivers were coasting/regening around roughly a 3rd of the track (and I'm not referring to braking zones). The audio sounds and lack of acceleration made it quite obvious where this was occurring. FIA's video feed conveniently never showing in-cockpit views from these areas also all but gave it away. Curious to see what changes can be made to improve things before the next race, per FIA's announcement, but until they bin this ill conceived hybrid PU altogether I don't see much changing.

Giving serious thought to quitting the season altogether, depending on what changes Miami brings. Its just so artificial and I have no interest tuning in to see who has the best talent at recharging their batteries. Its already ruined qualifying, IMO.

 

[Pie O My]

The Norris-Hamilton fight reached its crescendo late on. In simple terms, Norris passed Hamilton into the final chicane on lap 50, Hamilton re-passed him on the straight immediately, but Norris then got ahead for good into the chicane the next time by and Hamilton was actually unable to retaliate.

It looked like a reasonable conclusion to a battle that had been brewing for much of the final stint. But as Norris said, there was an oddity involved that is jarring.

“The problem is it [the battery] deploys into 130R - I have to lift, otherwise I'll drive into him, and I'm not allowed to go back on throttle,” Norris said when asked by The Race to explain what he meant by not being in control.

“If I go on throttle, my battery deploys, and I don't want it to deploy because it should have come.

“But because you lift, you have to go back on [throttle], it re-deploys. There's nothing I can do about it.

“So, there's just not enough control for a driver, and that's why you're just too much at the mercy of what's behind you. It's just not how it should be.”

What Norris describes is a function of the complex relationship between F1’s new overtake mode, the general problem of having a battery that cannot sustain the deployment of the MGU-K, and complex rules that demand what the engine does in certain situations.

The best overtaking spots are the straight to Turn 1, and at the end of the lap into the chicane. When behind Hamilton, Norris had overtake mode to use - giving him a little more charging allowance and the MGU-K’s full 350kW power for slightly longer when normally deployment tapers off.

We can take the (brief) overtake on lap 50 as an example. As Norris used overtake mode behind Hamilton on the straight towards 130R, that extra MGU-K usage took a lot out of the battery. But it also brought Norris very close to the back of the Ferrari, at high speed - close to 340km/h through 130R, which actually makes that easy flat-out kink into more of a corner.

So Norris - who had no MGU-K use by that point - lifted not just to avoid contact but because of the grip demands. By lifting significantly, though, Norris fell into the problem of F1’s overly complicated ‘power limited pending’ rules.

The simple version of this is that when throttle application dips below 98%, accelerating again will automatically cause the MGU-K to deploy briefly at 200kW, which eats into the battery when it should be being saved.

This uses up a vital bit of the remaining energy and therefore reduces what is left to be used on the exit of the final chicane and down the start-finish straight. So if an overtake is completed into the chicane, the driver is vulnerable right after. And if the overtake is not completed, there is no chance of getting ahead into Turn 1.

Norris’s state of near-confusion over what to do in a situation like this was highlighted by his throttle usage mid-overtake. He did squeeze the throttle again, but not back to 100%, and then reduced it immediately, hovering around 50% as he passed the Ferrari. It was an almost apologetic overtake.

"This is not just racing....This is F1 2026 racing."

 

[WolfpackS2k]

What we think about the latest rumors of the next PU, which would probably arrive in 2030/2031?

2.4 liter turbo V8 engine with non hybrid component. Supposedly Mercedes and Audi were the holdouts insisting on turbos. All this has been widely reported but I also imagine it could be made up? I dunno.

 

[MagpieRacer]

What we think about the latest rumors of the next PU, which would probably arrive in 2030/2031?

2.4 liter turbo V8 engine with non hybrid component. Supposedly Mercedes and Audi were the holdouts insisting on turbos. All this has been widely reported but I also imagine it could be made up? I dunno.

I've seen a few reports about it, it's long be said that there is an appetite for louder V style engines among F1 management and the FIA, if done correctly. Turbocharged bio-fuel V8s seems like a good compromise to me, I wonder if they could accelerate it a bit and just call these engines a failed experiment and save face with the fans.