Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur has delivered a mixed verdict on the 2026 Formula 1 rules, arguing that racing is less artificial than during the DRS era because drivers must actively manage electrical energy, while admitting that the new system may still fall short of “pure racing”. The Frenchman also believes Formula 1 should adjust the balance between combustion and electric power for 2027 or 2028 without changing the maximum overall output.
The debate has been sharpened by what was probably the finest overtake of the first half of 2026: Max Verstappen’s move on Lewis Hamilton at the Hungarian Grand Prix, a manoeuvre recently highlighted by Stefano Domenicali. Hungary was one of the circuits where energy management was less dominant, which helped make the pass feel distinctly old-school and largely independent of whether the battery was being charged or discharged.
That also raises a broader question about how many of the so-called yo-yo overtakes created by changing energy levels have genuinely remained in the memories of long-standing and newer Formula 1 fans. The intuitive answer arguably says plenty about how spectacular those moves have appeared compared with more traditional wheel-to-wheel racing.
Frédéric Vasseur gives his verdict on the 2026 F1 rules
Speaking to French publication Auto Hebdo, Frédéric Vasseur offered a candid first assessment of the new regulations and the strategic demands created by the much greater importance of energy management under the 2026 F1 power-unit rules.
“I have mixed feelings,” Frédéric Vasseur began. “As a motorsport fan, the races are undoubtedly more open than before. You could say they are a little artificial, but less so than when there was DRS. With that, you just had to press a button. Now you have to manage the energy and think about when to use it so that you don’t find yourself 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, while others tried to lose a little ground before the line so they would have more energy at the restart. Perhaps it isn’t pure racing, but it still involves using a skill, and for me that is the positive side.”
The distinction is central to the philosophy behind the 2026 regulations. DRS provided a relatively straightforward aerodynamic advantage to an attacking driver, whereas its replacement has made the timing of energy recovery and deployment a much more significant part of the contest. The new driver workload created by active aerodynamics and electric energy deployment therefore places greater emphasis on how that performance is managed from inside the cockpit.
Why Frédéric Vasseur wants the hybrid balance changed
Frédéric Vasseur also identified a less positive consequence of Formula 1’s technical direction, pointing to the relationship between increasingly capable chassis and the average power available from the engine.
“The negative side is that you continue to make progress with the chassis while reducing the engine’s contribution — I mean the average power,” Frédéric Vasseur continued. “Certain high-speed corners such as Pouhon at Spa or Copse at Silverstone are no longer real corners. When I started, Raidillon, Blanchimont and Pouhon were corners. Today, you’re flat out all the way to the pits…
“But I think that between 2027 and 2028 we will correct this by rebalancing the combustion/electric split, while keeping the same maximum power.”
Frédéric Vasseur’s assessment therefore reflects both sides of Formula 1’s new technical era. The removal of traditional DRS has created a form of overtaking in which drivers and teams have more decisions to make over electrical energy, but the Ferrari team principal believes further refinement will be required if the championship is to recover some of the challenge once presented by its most demanding high-speed corners.
Leave a Reply