A rule change introduced in Japanese Grand Prix qualifying aimed at reducing the amount of “lift and coasting” required on fast laps was warmly welcomed by drivers.
F1’s five power unit manufacturers (Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull Ford, Audi and Honda) have unanimously agreed with the FIA to reduce the energy recharge allowed for each lap during Saturday’s qualifying time from 9.0 megajoules to 8.0 megajoules.
This means there is less ‘superclipping’ as the car recharges the battery towards the end of the straight and slows down before the corner, allowing the driver to attack turns at higher speeds more normally.
The new 2026 F1 cars introduced a different driving style, with drivers lifting and coasting or ‘super-clipping’ the power unit to optimize the engine’s output.
While this increases the number of overtakes and drivers are divided, there is consensus that qualifying laps need to be changed to allow drivers to approach the limits of their car’s performance.
The FIA said on Thursday that, along with teams and engine manufacturers, it “continues to embrace the evolution of energy management” ahead of F1’s mandatory five-week hiatus and further discussions are planned in the coming weeks.
Regarding the impact of adjustments for this weekend’s Suzuka event, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc said: “I don’t think it will be a game changer.
“I think it’s going to feel pretty similar, except maybe the drivers with a little less lift and coast. I think that’s a good thing.”
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Charles Leclerc believes Mercedes has an advantage over Ferrari, but the situation is improving.
Teammate Lewis Hamilton said: “They changed things up for the weekend. When we were on the simulator we had to do a ton of lift and coast and it’s really, really fun to do that, especially on the qualifying lap.”
World champion Lando Norris said: “It’s different. First we need to go out and drive with this. I think this will clear up some things and change some other things.”
“I think the problem is that some tracks are going to be better, some are going to be better, some are going to be much better and some are not going to change much.
“So it should be a little bit better here. It’s not going to change the whole world.”
Championship leader George Russell, whose Mercedes team has taken both pole positions and race wins so far this season, also downplayed the impact the changes could have.
“It’s just a small thing. It doesn’t change anything,” Russell said.
“Being able to recover less from the battery means you have to be a little bit smarter with how you use it. Hopefully, what this means is that you’re going a little slower in the middle of the straight, but a little faster at the end of the straight.”
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George Russell doesn’t think it’s right that Mercedes are slowing down due to rule changes after two races.
“It’s a small adjustment. We haven’t seen the data yet so we don’t know exactly what the difference is compared to what we drove in the simulator.”
Max Verstappen has claimed the last four pole positions at Suzuka, but given that Red Bull has been off the pace of Mercedes and Ferrari so far this season, it seems unlikely that his run will continue this weekend.
Verstappen, the biggest critic of the 2026 regulations, said of the Suzuka adjustments: “I haven’t practiced in a simulator, so I can’t give you a clear answer.”
“It was basically not flat before, so we’re hoping this will bring it closer to being flat.”
Drivers want more work to improve qualifying experience
The flip side of this weekend’s adjustments is that drivers will have slightly less battery power available for a full lap.
“So it’s just slowing us down even more,” insisted Haas’ Oliver Bearman.
“On the one hand, we don’t have to do any lifts or coasts anymore, which is probably a little bit better for us, but it means we have to do a lot… I mean, we still have to recharge our energy and compared to what we had in the sim, we’re losing a megajoule compared to before we came here, so we’re spending a lot of time without energy.
“I think there are better ways to accomplish the same thing. I think it would make everyone’s life a little bit easier if we could harvest at full throttle at minus 350 kilowatts. But I also think this is a solution.”
And Leclerc believes there is scope for wider changes to improve the spectacle of qualifying.
“I think we still need to make some changes to make sure we can push as much as we can, whatever the limits of the car are for qualifying,” he said.
“But at the moment, for the first two races so far, it has been more about managing everything well in qualifying, rather than the real flat-out push that we have been used to in Q3 over the past few years. So we still need some fine-tuning in that regard, but I don’t think this particular change will be a game-changer for this weekend.”
Sky Sports F1 Japan GP Schedule
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A look back at the wildest moments captured on in-car cameras at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Friday, March 27th
2am: Japanese GP Practice 1 (Session starts at 2:30am)*
4:30am: Team boss press conference
5:45am: Japanese GP Practice 2 (session starts at 6am)*
7:15am: F1 Show*
Saturday, March 28th
2:15am: Japanese GP Practice 3 (session starts at 2:30am)*
5am: Japanese GP qualifying build-up*
6am: Japanese GP Qualifying*
8am: Ted’s Qualification Notes*
Sunday, March 29th
4:30am: Preparations for the Japanese Grand Prix – Grand Prix Sunday*
6am: Japanese Grand Prix*
8am: Japanese GP reaction – checkered flag*
9am: Ted’s Notes*
*The main event will also be broadcast live on Sky Sports
F1 will be at the iconic Suzuka Circuit this weekend for the Japanese Grand Prix, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
