For safety reasons, starting from Miami the FIA will introduce specific sections of each circuit where MGU-K power will be reduced from 350 to 250 kW. The measure aims to improve safety by eliminating the dangerous speed deltas seen at Suzuka, with restrictions also applying in overtaking mode. Here is how it will work.
New regulations aimed at improving safety and racing quality
Looking ahead to Miami, the FIA and the teams have approved a series of regulatory updates across multiple areas, with the goal of improving qualifying performance by giving drivers more opportunity to be the true protagonists on a single lap, and making wheel-to-wheel battles in the race more balanced. In particular, the governing body has intervened in situations that could have generated speed differences large enough to trigger incidents like Oliver Bearman’s crash at Suzuka.
Regarding the second objective, the governing body has worked on multiple parameters. On one hand, the effectiveness of the boost has been reduced, now limited to 150 kW, or to the actual MGU-K power level at the moment of activation if that value is higher than 150 kW. On the other hand, new engine mappings have been introduced, designed to limit in a uniform way across all cars the power deployable in specific areas of the track.
How the old system worked before Miami
Until the Miami round, there were essentially two main power maps: the standard mode and the overtaking mode. In standard mode, a driver could use the full 350 kW of the MGU-K up to 290 km/h, regardless of track position. Beyond that threshold, however, the regulations required dedicated maps that progressively reduced electrical power as speed increased, also in order to manage energy consumption.
In simple terms, the higher the speed above 290 km/h, the more the MGU-K support was reduced, eventually dropping to 0 kW at 345 km/h (or when the control unit cut deployment to save energy). In overtaking mode, this limitation was bypassed with a clear objective: allowing the attacking driver to continue using full electrical power in order to create the necessary speed delta for a passing attempt.
The core issue and the Suzuka example
So what was the problem? These rules applied to every point of the circuit without distinguishing between straights and corners. The clearest example of the potential consequences is the contact between Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto at Suzuka, an incident that later pushed regulators to revise the system. The crash occurred in a section where the FIA had chosen not to allow the use of active aerodynamics for safety reasons, but where the speed delta generated by electrical deployment still became critical.
Leaving aside the responsibility of the Alpine driver in the incident, who was considered to have moved quite late, another factor must be taken into account. As this was not historically a true overtaking zone and also the first of three consecutive acceleration sections, teams adopted different approaches to energy management. The Alpine power unit, for example, cut electrical deployment earlier in order to save energy for the following straight.
This, combined with the fact that Bearman had activated boost and was again using the full 350 kW allowed under the rules at the time, generated a speed delta of around 50 km/h compared to Colapinto, which ultimately triggered the contact.
New FIA solution: reduced zones and 250 kW cap
To prevent similar situations from happening again in the future, the FIA has not only reduced the effectiveness of boost as described earlier, but has also introduced specific track zones where MGU-K power will be limited to a maximum of 250 kW.
The latest regulatory draft does not yet define exactly which sections will be affected, mainly because they will be determined race by race depending on the characteristics of each circuit. However, in general terms, these zones are expected to coincide with areas where the governing body does not want active aerodynamics to be used for safety reasons.
This does not mean the restrictions will only apply to slower sections. Even very high-speed corners where the use of the movable rear wing is not permitted could be affected, like the section leading into Spoon at Suzuka, the scene of Bearman’s incident. This is why the new power mapping introduces very specific usage rules, including limitations above 300 km/h.
How the new power limits will work in detail
In these designated areas, up to 309 km/h it will be possible to use a maximum of 250 kW. From that point onwards, following a similar logic to the standard mode, MGU-K power will progressively decrease to 100 kW at 340 km/h and finally to 0 kW at 345 km/h.
“In the race we will also have a reduced power level in the track zones that do not include a straight-line mode zone [where active aerodynamics can be used], so we will lose a bit of lap time there. However, in those same zones less energy will be used, which can then be deployed elsewhere. We are talking about [a loss of] two or three tenths, but it is circuit-specific,” explained Mark Temple, McLaren’s engineering technical director.
As a result, in these areas not only will peak speed be lower, but it will also be reached later, since the acceleration curve will be less aggressive compared to other parts of the track, like straights, where drivers will still be able to exploit the full 350 kW of the MGU-K.
Impact on overtaking and race dynamics
In line with the safety-first philosophy behind these regulatory changes, the intention is to eliminate excessive speed deltas at their root, making it much harder to attempt overtakes in sections that are not traditionally considered genuine passing opportunities.
It is important to underline that these limitations will also apply in overtaking mode: in the designated zones, a driver attempting a pass will still not be able to access the full 350 kW and will instead be capped at 250 kW, with the side effect of also allowing some energy saving.
Conversely, in sections of the track where active aerodynamics is allowed, like long straights, the 250 kW restriction will not apply. In those areas, drivers will again be able to use the full 350 kW available under the regulations, both in standard mode and in overtaking mode when attempting a pass.
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