Formula One enters an enforced five-week break with plenty to ponder following Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.
The third race of the sport’s new engine era exposed the shortcomings of the rules overhaul, billed as Formula One’s most sweeping ever, in a way the first two in Australia and China had not.
The hybrid power units, now split nearly 50-50 between electric and combustion power, have introduced an element of energy management to the racing with fresh challenges for drivers.
They are having to tactically “lift and coast”, easing off the throttle early and coasting into a corner, so the combustion engine can recharge the battery.
They are also having to contend with “super-clipping” where the power unit automatically diverts energy from the engine to the battery, slowing down the car even if the driver is flat on the throttle.
Formula One’s governing body said meetings to take stock of the new rules would take place in the April break created by the cancellation of races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia due to conflict in the region.
Even if they have taken away from the ‘white-knuckle’ spectacle of qualifying, the new rules have spiced up the racing action, with drivers passing and repassing each other as their cars take turns deploying and harvesting electrical energy
The FIA had already moved to tweak energy management rules to allow drivers to push harder for Suzuka qualifying. “Any potential adjustments, particularly those related to energy management, require careful simulation and detailed analysis,” it said in a statement.
Red Bull’s four-time champion Max Verstappen was “beyond frustrated” after qualifying, telling BBC Radio after Sunday’s race that he was considering his future in the sport as he wasn’t enjoying driving the new cars.
“It still hurts your soul when you see your speed dropping so much, 56km/h down the straight,” said McLaren’s reigning champion Lando Norris after qualifying.
“Driver skill is not really needed anymore,” declared Aston Martin’s double world champion Fernando Alonso, who at the pre-season test in Bahrain sarcastically remarked that the team’s chef could now drive the car.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was left frustrated after going up against the algorithm governing the energy deployment-recharge equation.
The algorithm’s calculations can be upset by unintended driver inputs, like easing off the throttle to correct a slide, leaving the driver unexpectedly short of power.
Even if they have taken away from the “white-knuckle” spectacle of qualifying, the new rules have spiced up the racing action, with drivers passing and repassing each other as their cars take turns deploying and harvesting electrical energy.
I think it’s tuneable from where we are. We just need to take care to make sure we tune it in the right way
— Toto Wolff, Mercedes boss
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, resurgent after a nightmare first season with Ferrari last year, has been vocal in his praise for the racing the new rules have created.
On Sunday, however, Oliver Bearman’s crash highlighted the safety risks of this form of racing, made possible by the speed differentials created between cars. It unfolded as the Haas driver approached Alpine’s Franco Colapinto with a 50km/h difference in speed between the two cars.
As the Briton swerved left to avoid contact, the car went onto the grass and through a marker board as the 20-year-old lost control at 308km/h. The incident sparked calls for change, with Williams racer and Grand Prix Drivers’ Association director Carlos Sainz especially vocal.
Toto Wolff, boss of dominant Mercedes, said some of the reaction after qualifying had been exaggerated, while Williams boss James Vowles said the sport needed to spice up qualifying without compromising on the racing.
“I think it’s tuneable from where we are,” he said. “We just need to take care to make sure we tune it in the right way.”
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Reuters
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