Jean Alesi, a dissenting voice
During the Suzuka weekend, former driver Jean Alesi gave an interesting interview to the French outlet Canal+, explaining that he did not appreciate the many criticisms leveled at the 2026 regulations, particularly from some former F1 drivers. The former Ferrari driver emphasized that as a spectator he found the new direction of the category truly enjoyable and invited fans to take a less engineering-focused approach.
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Alesi: “This F1 provides a show”
“I detest former drivers who speak ill of this new generation of cars,” Alesi emphasized, arguing his point: “Most of them, if not all, wouldn’t be able to drive them! I find that on television this F1 is extraordinary. The battles we have seen recently, in the last 2 GPs, haven’t been seen for a long time, and they happened thanks to the new regulations.”
Alesi then invited everyone to take an approach more like spectators than technicians: “A great deal of adaptation is needed from the drivers to force themselves to think: ‘Here I recharge the battery, here I use it.’ So it is certainly a new way of driving. But we too, on the media side, must convey a positive message: what is important is the battle on the track. We are all looking for the show and starting to act like engineers is not good.”
It is no mystery that after the Japanese Grand Prix, F1 will evaluate whether to introduce changes to the regulations, and the first point of discussion will concern a different management of energy in qualifying. There has indeed been much talk about how it is not productive for drivers to seek the ‘crazy lap’ in qualifying: Leclerc on the Suzuka Thursday explained how an early release of 2-3% of the throttle caused a recalibration of the software that manages the energy, which then caused a loss of lap time.
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