Charles Leclerc and Andrea Kimi Antonelli have explained how unpredictable F1 energy deployment became at Spa-Francorchamps, where the complex management of electrical power affected some drivers more than others and produced behaviour that even the teams’ simulations could not always anticipate.
The issue became one of the major talking points of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. Alongside the surprise caused by Spa’s extreme super-clipping, fans were left confused by electrical power delivery that appeared to change depending on a driver’s inputs and the demands of different parts of the circuit.
The AI recalculating F1 energy deployment
Spa-Francorchamps may remain one of Formula 1’s most spectacular circuits, but its demands exposed some of the most controversial characteristics of the current power units. The exaggerated clipping at the end of the straights and the unpredictable delivery of electrical power both attracted criticism, particularly when the cars behaved differently from what the teams’ simulations had predicted.
This second variable is especially sensitive to driving style. That prompted the provocative question on Sunday morning of whether Formula 1 drivers were still fully in control or risked becoming passengers of the artificial intelligence recalculating the system. The wider complexity of managing the 2026 Formula 1 power units was subsequently discussed by both Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc during the press conference at Spa.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: “Sometimes the system behaves strangely”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli described his own experience with the mysteries surrounding electrical power delivery after George Russell suffered a slight loss of power during the Spa weekend.
“It can happen. George had a slight loss of power this weekend that sometimes you don’t understand,” Andrea Kimi Antonelli said. “The same thing happened to me in Australia. It can depend a little on the driving, but sometimes the system does something slightly different. It is very complicated and you have to appreciate the team’s work, because the system is really complex.”
“Of course, they try to simplify things, but sometimes it is difficult to achieve perfection. Especially at tracks like this that require a lot of energy, if you start driving differently, things become a little strange for the system.”
Charles Leclerc frustrated by changing Spa power delivery
Charles Leclerc experienced something similar as Ferrari worked to manage the SF-26’s electrical energy deployment throughout the Spa weekend. The Monegasque driver struggled on Friday and again in FP3 before minor adjustments helped restore more normal performance for qualifying.
“Obviously, I don’t know what George’s problem was, but the only thing I can say is that it happens,” Charles Leclerc explained. “These power units are so complex that there are days when you scratch your head trying to understand why you are losing so much power on the straights.”
“It was a bit like that for me on Friday and in FP3. Then, in qualifying, things worked properly again thanks to some minor fine-tuning. It is very difficult, but it can also be very frustrating for a driver because, even when you do your best, there are things behind the scenes that keep changing. And that is not very pleasant.”
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