This new Formula 1
The most beautiful overtake of this first half of 2026 was probably that of Max Verstappen on Lewis Hamilton, as recently highlighted by Stefano Domenicali.
But there is a reflection to be made on that beautiful maneuver, namely that it was performed in Hungary – one of the tracks where energy management was not predominant – and precisely for this reason it was an old-style overtake, independent of battery charge or discharge.
One has to ask how many of the yo-yo overtakes have remained in the minds of fans, both long-time and new, and the intuitive answer probably says a lot about the beauty of these maneuvers.
In an interview with the French Auto Hebdo, Frederic Vasseur of Ferrari gave an assessment of these new rules, very honestly.
Vasseur and F1 2026
“I have mixed feelings,” Vasseur began, elaborating: “As a motorsport enthusiast, the races are undoubtedly more open than before. You could say they are a bit artificial, but less so than when there was DRS. With that, you just had to press a button. Now you have to manage energy and think about when to use it so as not to end up with an empty battery for the rest of the lap.
The restart at Spa after the Safety Car is a good example: some teams recovered energy before the start line, others tried to lose a bit of ground before the line to have more energy at the restart. Maybe it’s not pure racing, but it still involves the use of skill and for me that is the positive side”.
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Vasseur then continued: “The downside is that progress continues on the chassis, while engine thrust is reduced – I mean average power. Certain fast corners like Pouhon at Spa or Copse at Silverstone are no longer real corners. When I started Radillon, Blanchimont and Pouhon were corners. Today you go flat out all the way to the pits… But I think between 2027 and 2028 we will correct this, rebalancing the thermal/electric proportion, while maintaining the same maximum power.”
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