Fernando Alonso says Formula 1 drivers now have to drive 50km/h slower in high-speed corners to get the most out of the 2026 cars.
Meeting brand-new chassis and engine regulations, F1 machinery now features a much greater electric element, which has made energy management preponderant in terms of driving.
F1 racers now need to harvest as much energy as possible under deceleration to deploy it at the most opportune moment, but there is little time to gain by deploying extra power in high-speed corners, relative to long straights.
As Alonso spoke to the press in Bahrain on Friday afternoon, Max Verstappen’s latest comments were put to him, with the four-time world champion branding F1’s 2026 cars as “Formula E on steroids” on Thursday.
Alonso didn’t quite disagree, though he insisted one should wait for the first couple of grands prix before drawing conclusions; the Aston Martin driver used the Sakhir circuit’s Turn 12 as a meaningful example – a right-hander which theoretically is the track’s fastest curve.
“Here in Bahrain, Turn 12 has historically been a very challenging corner,” the Spanish veteran explained. “So you used to choose your downforce level to go Turn 12 just flat. So you remove downforce until you are in Turn 12 just flat with new tyres and then in the race. So driver skill was decisive factor to go fast in a lap time.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Aston Martin
“Now in Turn 12 we are like 50km/h slower because we don’t want to waste energy there and we want to have all on the straights. So to do Turn 12 instead of 260km/h at 200km/h, you can drive the car – the chef can drive the car in Turn 12 at that speed. But you don’t want to waste energy because you want to have it on the straights.
“So I understand Max’s comments, because from a driver [point of view] you would like to make the difference in the corner driving those 5km/h faster, but now you are dictated by how much energy your engine will have on the next straight.
“But at the same time this is Formula 1 and it has been always like that. Now it’s the energy. Two years ago when [Verstappen] won all the races it was the downforce. He could go in the corners at 280km/h and we could go in the corners at 250km/h because we didn’t have the downforce.
“At the end of the day, this is Formula 1. We close the visor, we go, and this is the same motor racing. Sometimes we go to the rental kart here in Bahrain – incredible circuit, by the way – and you have a lot of fun with a rental kart. So we still love motor racing, we still love competing, and for the regs I understand there is less input by the driving skills. But I think after three or four races maybe we have a better idea.”
As F1’s most experienced driver in history, having debuted in the world championship back in 2001, Alonso still misses the machinery from his youth, at a time when drivers mostly pushed flat out with little tyre management in races.
The 2005 and 2006 world champion added: “Definitely on the pure driving, I said last week at the car launch that for me the late 90s and the early 2000s will be unbeatable in terms of driving adrenaline and pure skills from a driver point of view, because you want to drive fast on the corners and find the limits of the car.”
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