FIA steps in on qualifying
Race control has tweaked the tech rules. The FIA pushed the settings before the Japanese Grand Prix. Energy recovery limits officially drop from nine to eight megajoules. This change targets qualifying, plain and simple. They’re trying to kill extreme energy-harvest strategies. Drivers had been running “lift and coast” and “super clipping” on flying laps. Complaints piled up from the season opener. Onboard cameras in Australia showed the issue clearly — the cars weren’t running flat-out through the fast corners.
Suzuka’s challenge altered
Isack Hadjar has been through the rule change with a fine-tooth comb. He wants to see how the eight-megajoule cap actually plays out on track. Suzuka is normally a proper driver’s circuit. He fears Saturdays will lose some bite. His latest sim sessions back that up. The flying-lap task gets simpler with these new cars. Sunday, though, tells a different story. The 2026 rules break the single-file drag and, oddly, create noticeably more real passing opportunities.
No more time-blocking
Hadjar gives the new rulebook a mostly positive grade. Two cars on identical pace can now fight wheel-to-wheel. The old aero package choked off close battles. Last year you needed roughly eight-tenths a lap to hope for a pass. If you did get by, positions tended to stay locked to the flag. Hadjar admits these electric-era scraps can feel a bit artificial. He wants the balance improved. Expect small rule tweaks and engineers sharpening the hardware to sort it out.
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