Mark Temple, McLaren engineer, assures that the regulation adjustments will eliminate lift and coast on flying laps, increase of super clipping to 350 kW and reduction of recovery to 7 MJ. The FIA is also testing a slow start detection system.
The first regulatory review of the 2026 Formula 1 season, which will come into force at the Miami Grand Prix, promises to bring back the essence to qualifying sessions, according to Mark Temple, McLaren's technical director of performance, the adjustments in energy management should eliminate the need for drivers to lift and coast during a flying lap.
The original problem was clear: the almost 50-50 split between combustion power and electrical energy forced drivers to adopt unnatural behaviors to charge the battery, lifting earlier on straights and letting the car roll through fast corners. Additionally, going faster through corners was punished, as it caused them to run out of power earlier on the following straights.
The two main solutions to be implemented in Miami are the increase of the super clipping limit from 250 to 350 kilowatts and the reduction of the energy recovery limit from eight to seven megajoules per lap, according to Temple, the most significant impact will be from a driving perspective.
"The idea is to get rid of some of these things that the drivers don't like to do in qualifying: the idea of the car coasting for a long period of time towards the high speed chicane instead of a more natural feeling of staying flat out and then braking harder" the engineer explained.
Temple detailed that, with the adjustments, lift and coast "should no longer exist in qualifying," now, the power unit will control energy recovery while the driver stays flat out, with straight mode active, which reduces the car's deceleration: "The total amount of time and the duration of any individual phase of super clipping or coasting is significantly reduced" he added.
The McLaren engineer acknowledged that energy management needs will still cause some driving peculiarities, but these will be more in line with what drivers already did in previous seasons, such as tire management or low fuel management levels: "That will make qualifying feel much more natural for the drivers" he stated.
Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal, agreed that the changes are "a positive step in the right direction" and called for maintaining openness to future adjustments: "Once we observe the result and the effect of this change package, we may have learned more about the new regulations and an additional adjustment may be required," he noted.
Stella also mentioned that the FIA is testing a "low power departure detection system" to reduce the risks of cars being slow off the grid, furthermore, he suggested that in the long term hardware changes should be considered to place the power unit's operating point in a place where fewer compromises are required: "All interested parties should face this conversation with the willingness to contribute," he concluded.