Haas driver Oliver Bearman described the energy management needed by 2026 Formula 1 cars as “annoying” and “sad”, with Esteban Ocon explaining the new machinery requires lifting early on straights.
F1 is introducing new power units featuring a near-50:50 split between combustion and electric energy, with extra power provided by Overtake Mode (functioning like DRS) and Boost Mode (which can be used anywhere on the track).
Most importantly, there will be greater emphasis on energy management as cars harvest energy under deceleration, meaning drivers will lift the throttle or even downshift before the braking point – even in qualifying. They may run out of electric deployment on longer straights anyway, a phenomenon known as clipping.
“The annoying thing is definitely the energy management, the clipping and all of these things,” Bearman said. “It’s definitely more than what we’ve been used to, but that’s a given, considering the reliance on electrical as opposed to the previous generation. To be expected, but actually feeling it in reality for the first time is a little bit sad. One of those things.”
Lifting and coasting might seem counter-intuitive to drivers, especially in qualifying – it’s nothing unprecedented in races – but Ocon doesn’t view it as negatively as his young team-mate.
“On quali-style runs, we are doing like lift-and-coast and stuff,” the Frenchman commented. “That’s a very new thing to do. But, you know, honestly, from the simulator, it took me one run to do it. It’s actually quite odd now to not do it.
Oliver Bearman, Haas
Photo by: Formula 1
“It makes sense with the car, because if you stay full throttle, you are basically losing a lot of, you’re basically putting the handbrake at the end of the straight, and if you lift and coast, it’s not that much. So you feel quicker if you lift off. So it feels quite natural because it’s the fastest we are driving.
“Obviously, it’s very different to normal, but I felt that was quite natural by the end – obviously, in Barcelona, let’s see another track.”
Still, the new power units have their perks; Ocon was impressed with the new machinery’s acceleration and top speed – courtesy of the electric deployment and trimmed-down drag.
Asked by Motorsport what surprised him the most from the Barcelona test, Ocon said: “The way the speed climbs in the straight.
“You know, I never thought I would get to 350km/h that fast. We had an inconsistent deployment in one of the runs that we did, and I had like full deployment into the straight, and I arrived at, I don’t know, 355km/h in Turn 1 in Barcelona, so the braking was very different to the laps before.
“The way it climbs and the way you feel, you know, the speed climbing, it’s something insane, honestly. It’s something I’ve never felt in Formula 1 or that I’ve never felt in any cars driving prior to that. That was definitely crazy. And the acceleration and the power on exit as well, it’s instant, it’s much more than I’ve ever felt. So I think those are the things that surprised me the most.”
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