Spa-Francorchamps has delivered the tough examination that Formula 1 teams feared for the new 2026 power units. With less recoverable energy available per lap and a circuit built around long, demanding straights, cars can lose between 30 and 50 km/h once their battery is depleted. The effect is especially clear at Spa, where the lack of corners capable of masking the loss of acceleration forces teams into significant compromises over how and where they deploy electrical energy.
Teams had expected Spa to present a tougher challenge than Silverstone, not only because the Belgian circuit is more than seven kilometres long and features longer straights, but also because its layout makes every loss of power more visible. The FIA reduced the recoverable energy limit to 7MJ per lap before the weekend, creating a new strategic puzzle that is already producing different approaches across the grid.
F1 2026 Spa energy management creates new deployment strategies
Every team is still trying to maximise the use of electrical energy along Spa’s long straights. The crucial difference lies in how that limited energy is distributed across the lap. Some teams deploy early to build momentum, while others conserve energy for later acceleration zones. It is a situation that should also encourage more battles in the race, as drivers will not always have access to the same electrical boost at the same points of the circuit.
Comparing Friday’s lap times directly with those from last year does not provide a completely accurate measure of performance. The unexpectedly low grip level at Spa this season, compared with pre-weekend estimates, had a major influence on the stopwatch. Telemetry data, however, offers a clearer view of how the new power units are behaving and why the differences are more apparent here than at many other circuits.
The issue has become more relevant following the FIA’s latest restrictions, which have added another layer to the MGU-K management challenge at Spa. The relatively small battery, compared with the power available from the electric motor, means that energy can be used very quickly when drivers demand maximum performance.
Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren take different approaches
As seen at other circuits earlier in the season, the effectiveness of the MGU-K over short bursts allows cars to reach high speeds rapidly. However, the battery does not have enough capacity to sustain that deployment for an entire long straight. That is why teams have adopted different approaches to the climb through Eau Rouge and towards the Kemmel Straight.
Mercedes uses a greater amount of energy before Eau Rouge to build momentum for the uphill section and the remainder of sector one. Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren, by contrast, have tended to save more energy for the opening phase of the Kemmel Straight. They enter derating earlier, when the MGU-K reduces its output, before moving into superclipping in order to recharge the battery.
In practical terms, this represents a major change from the previous generation of cars. Until last year, cars continued accelerating for the full length of the straight and reached around 340 km/h. In 2026, maximum speed is often achieved in the first part of the Kemmel Straight before a progressive decline begins. The cars then continue with no electrical energy available and only the internal combustion engine delivering power.
The strategy is to empty the battery completely, then use superclipping at the end of the straight to recover energy. The price is substantial: depending on the car, drivers can lose between 30 and 50 km/h. Ferrari’s own approach to deployment has been a major focus at Spa, with the team hoping that its hybrid gains can keep the SF-26 competitive despite the difficult energy demands of the circuit.
Why Spa’s second sector has become an MGU-K puzzle
This is effectively a forced strategy, but its consequences are most evident in the second sector. From this year, the numerous areas in which the FIA allows teams to cut MGU-K output quickly in order to save energy have turned that part of the lap into a genuine puzzle.
The short run from Turn 7 to Turn 8 provides one of the clearest examples. Cars have very little energy available there beyond what they recovered through superclipping and under braking for Turn 5. Teams can therefore switch off the MGU-K entirely in this section, leaving the cars with only the internal combustion engine’s approximately 550 horsepower and no electrical assistance.
That explains why the contrast with the previous technical cycle is so dramatic, even along such a short acceleration zone. Last year, cars approached the braking zone for Turn 8 at close to 290 km/h. This year, they arrive at around 240 km/h.
Teams are also using energy differently through one of Spa’s most iconic sections, Pouhon. As with Eau Rouge, contrasting approaches are clear in the data. Mercedes tends to reach the entry to Pouhon at very high speed, sometimes 15 to 20 km/h quicker than its rivals and broadly in line with the figures seen last year.
Because Pouhon has also become an area in which the MGU-K can be switched off, other teams have chosen a different strategy. They consume less energy before reaching the corner, then use it after the turn to accelerate towards the 12/13 chicane. Red Bull provides the clearest example: it can be more than 20 km/h slower than Mercedes before Pouhon, yet emerge from the corner with around 15 km/h more because it deploys its energy at a different moment.
Blanchimont reveals the battery limitation
The final sector offers another striking illustration. The 2026 rules have added two extra open-wing zones compared with last year, when they were not present for safety reasons. With active aerodynamics working alongside the electric motor, the cars can reach around 330 km/h well before Blanchimont, approximately 30 km/h faster than last year.
From that point onwards, the situation changes. While cars from the previous technical cycle continued gaining speed, the 2026 machines start to slow down. In many cases, they lose around 50 km/h through Blanchimont, where the closing of the wing also has an impact. However, the cars begin losing a great deal of speed even before the wing closes, simply because the battery has been exhausted.
“I think at Blanchimont we go from 320 to 270 because we run out of battery,” Lando Norris said. Drivers are even dropping a gear in some instances to keep the engine revs high.
The effect has fuelled wider discussion about battery-led racing, a subject Lewis Hamilton had already addressed in his comments questioning battery-driven overtaking in Formula 1. Spa has made the issue particularly visible because of the circuit’s long flat-out sections and limited opportunities to disguise the loss of electrical deployment.
The 2026 F1 chassis rules offer an encouraging sign
As is already known, the regulations will change again next year and this phenomenon should progressively diminish. It is important to remember that this is still the first season of a new technical cycle. For a fairer comparison, it is useful to look back to 2022, when ground-effect cars were introduced.
What stands out is that, in the corners, these cars can in some cases be even quicker than the 2022 machines, despite being designed to run lower-downforce wings. The 2022 cars often used much higher-downforce wing configurations to generate grip, while the current machinery is demonstrating that the chassis regulations have produced a stronger result than the straight-line figures alone might suggest.
For only the first year of this technical cycle, teams have done an excellent job in creating cars that remain fast through corners and enjoyable for the drivers. The technical work seen across the grid can be explored further in our Spa analysis of the latest Belgian GP upgrades.
Lewis Hamilton believes that the positive qualities of the cars are still evident in the right parts of the lap. “It is still a fantastic track to drive. In the corners it is still very good, enjoyable. It is just that on the straights the engine dies. I do not know whether that will be something that can be fixed in the future, but I hope so.”
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