FIA has announced new energy management tweaks for qualifying races (only for the Japanese Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday). It was agreed upon all power unit manufacturers (Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull Ford, Audi, and Honda) and will result in a reduction of the maximum permitted energy recharge for Qualifying at Suzuka from 9 megajoules (MJ) to 8 megajoules, which will "ensure the intended balance between energy deployment and driver performance is maintained".
This means that drivers will harvest less energy to charge the battery on the straights in Qualifying, spending less time on recovering energy and "lifting and coasting" and more pushing it. Some of the biggest critics of the new energy regulations in Formula 1 think the qualifying sessions had become a test of "battery management", rather than driving skill.
However, FIA defends that they are not backtracking and the "the first events under the 2026 Regulations have been operationally successful, and this targeted refinement is part of the normal process of optimisation as the new regulatory framework is further validated in real-world conditions".
F1 drivers react to the energy tweak in qualifying
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc thinks that this change won't be a "game changer" and the cars will feel similar, and his teammate Lewis Hamilton, one of the biggest defenders of the overall new rules on the grid, welcomes the tweak as doing a lot of "lift and coast is really, really not enjoyable to do, particularly for a qualifying lap."
"It's just a small detail. It doesn't change anything," said Mercedes' driver and current leader George Russell (via Sky). "It's small adjustment. I've yet to sort of see any data of the difference from what I drove on the simulator, so I'm not exactly sure."