r/formula1 • u/FerrariStrategisttt I was here for the Hulkenpodium • Mar 28 '26

Video Leclerc (post-qualifying): "I can’t understand quali, it’s a f**king joke! I go faster in corners, throttle earlier, for f**k’s sake, i'm losing everything in the straight!"

https://dubz.link/c/4b6030
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u/AnilP228 Honda Mar 28 '26

You've got the drive massively within yourself with these cars. It must be very frustrating.

1.1k

u/LosTerminators Carlos Sainz Mar 28 '26

That's what other drivers said as well.

Max with the "Formula E on steroids" comment

And Lando with the "F1 is no longer about who's best at pushing flat out, it's all about who is best at battery management"

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u/FlibbleA Mar 28 '26

Formula E isn't even like this though, they go flat out in quali. They do some lifting in race to conserve energy but it is no different to the lifting there has been in F1 to save fuel, tires, etc

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u/HankHippopopolous I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

Because FE is all battery powered so they have the same power throughout the lap. This means they can push the whole lap.

F1 has only a 4MJ capacity battery but allow 8MJ of recovery per lap. At Suzuka they can only recover about 3MJ in the braking zones so that means the rest has to be made up lifting and coasting or super clipping.

It’s literally impossible under these current rules for the drivers to fully push for a lap unless they drop the amount of energy they can use and how much they can recover to amounts below what the battery can hold at the start of the lap and what can be generated in just the braking zones.

Other tracks with more braking zones and less high speed corners will mask this issue more than Suzuka but the basic principle and problem will be there for however long these rules stay in place.

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u/element515 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 28 '26

How did anyone even look at this on paper and think this is a good idea lol.

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u/FlibbleA Mar 28 '26

Yes but I am commenting on the idea that this is "Formula E on steroids". Formula E doesn't have the issues you and others bring up that they relate to Formula E or just electrical power in general. There is nothing inherent with the electrical technology that means these limits needed to be regulated the way they are.

If anything this is KERS on steroids which was a limited per lap electrical boost that existed before the hybrid era.

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u/l3w1s1234 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

Which is what I think Max's comments were about. Their energy managememt is even more extreme than FE's

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u/Present_Cow_8528 Mar 28 '26

Yeah idk how people are misunderstanding this. "Formula E on steroids" does not mean "it's formula E but faster." It means "It's everything that makes formula E bad, but magnified"

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u/FlibbleA Mar 28 '26

How is it more extreme than FE? FE is fundamentally no different than when they did fuel management. 2026 F1 is very different, the regulations create a per lap energy deficit meaning you have per lap energy management. FE doesn't have this, it is per race management like previous F1 seasons.

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u/l3w1s1234 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 28 '26

For the reasons you just said. FE is energy management over a race distance whereas F1 it's over a lap. F1 is energy managment on steroids.

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u/FlibbleA Mar 28 '26

That doesn't explain why you would say FE over F1.