In some respects, the most recent Formula 1 races have been particularly favorable to the current technical regulations, albeit for very different reasons.
In Miami, the FIA allowed a generous amount of deployable energy and permitted teams to reduce electrical deployment through corners, effectively allowing the hybrid system to be used almost exclusively on the straights. That decision significantly reduced the need to rely on more extreme battery management techniques.
Canada also proved relatively manageable. Although the circuit features several consecutive acceleration zones, the straights are comparatively short, helping drivers avoid severe speed drops at the end of the longest sections during qualifying.
Monaco, meanwhile, is probably the most favorable venue on the calendar for the characteristics of the new power units thanks to the numerous opportunities available for energy recovery throughout the lap.
Barcelona is expected to present a very different challenge.
According to team simulations, the Spanish Grand Prix could see a significant increase in both superclipping and lift-and-coast techniques. Superclipping occurs when the MGU-K enters a charging phase and effectively works against the internal combustion engine while the driver is still fully on the throttle. Lift-and-coast, meanwhile, involves drivers lifting off the accelerator earlier before braking zones in order to save fuel and recover additional energy.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya’s numerous high-speed corners place additional pressure on energy management, particularly during the acceleration phase leading onto the main straight.
“Barcelona is a complex circuit from an energy management perspective, with several high-speed corners followed by long straights,” Williams explained. “The fact that some corners can be taken flat out or not has a significant impact on the optimal energy deployment strategy throughout the lap.”
Not a traditional power-sensitive track, but still challenging
The issue can be divided into two distinct aspects.
On paper, Barcelona is not considered one of the most power-limited circuits on the calendar. The sections where outright power plays a dominant role account for approximately 2,440 meters of the lap. As a result, teams are permitted to reduce electric power deployment by 100 kW per second. On circuits where power-limited zones exceed 3,000 meters, the reduction is restricted to 50 kW per second for safety reasons.
However, those numbers only tell part of the story.
In Spain, the sections where engine performance is critical represent roughly half of the circuit’s total length. Furthermore, with the previous generation of Formula 1 cars, drivers spent around 63 percent of the lap at full throttle. Given the reduction in aerodynamic downforce compared to 2025, that figure is expected to decrease. Teams anticipate, for example, that Turn 3 will no longer be taken fully flat out.
While that may help create additional energy recovery opportunities, it also introduces greater complexity into overall energy management. Depending on how drivers approach the faster corners, the challenge of balancing deployment and recovery could become considerably more difficult.
Going slower to become faster?
In qualifying, teams will only be able to recover 7 MJ of energy during a lap. This limitation is intended to reduce the need for excessive superclipping or lift-and-coast techniques, but it is still expected to result in noticeable speed reductions along the main straight.
The picture changes significantly in race conditions. During the Grand Prix, teams will be able to use 8.5 MJ of recoverable energy, 1.5 MJ more than in qualifying. The challenge is finding efficient ways to generate that additional energy.
Cars running with higher fuel loads naturally spend more time braking and cornering, creating more opportunities for regeneration. However, teams are still expected to rely on superclipping and lift-and-coast throughout the race, much like what was seen earlier this season in China.
“A significant amount of superclipping is expected during the race, and teams may also use lift-and-coast to help control it,” Williams added. “In recent races this aspect had not represented a major challenge.”
Max Verstappen shares a similar view and believes Barcelona could become one of those weekends where sacrificing corner speed ultimately pays off on the straights.
“It will be one of those weekends where you effectively drive slower in order to be faster with the energy later on,” the Dutch driver explained. “I knew it would be like that. It will make everything a bit more complicated, especially in qualifying.”
The final corner could become crucial
One of the most important topics throughout the weekend will be how drivers approach the final sector and, in particular, how they exit the last corner onto Barcelona’s one-kilometre main straight.
Already during pre-season testing, teams encountered difficulties avoiding significant speed drops before the end of long straights. As a result, optimizing the exit from the final corner could become one of the decisive factors in qualifying.
Following complaints from drivers, who considered it dangerous to partially lift off the throttle through the final corners purely for energy management purposes, the FIA introduced a regulatory adjustment in Miami.
The new system allows the electronic control unit to manage the electrical deployment strategy automatically even when the driver is using full throttle.
“Take Barcelona as an example,” explained Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu. “Coming out of the final corner, if you go full throttle too early, you drain the battery too much, so you have to wait for the right moment before fully committing to the accelerator. That’s why the regulation changed.”
“The best way to describe the new rule is that there is now more freedom. Drivers can go full throttle, but they do not necessarily have to start deploying electrical energy immediately. We can decide when deployment begins. At some point, however, you still need to use that energy to cross the start-finish line fast enough, otherwise you carry a penalty into Turn 1.”
Teams still searching for the best solution
Carlos Sainz also highlighted how difficult the start of a qualifying lap could become under these regulations.
“The most difficult part will be the beginning of the lap and how you launch it,” Carlos Sainz explained. “There are two corners that are almost flat out, and you need to know exactly how to program the battery deployment mode, or manage it manually, so that the energy is available precisely where you need it. You’re going to hear us complaining a lot throughout the weekend.”
This remains an important topic because even though many of the procedures can now be automated, some drivers in Canada were still manually modulating the throttle before crossing the start-finish line, only going fully flat out at the last possible moment.
To help reduce energy consumption, the FIA will allow teams during qualifying to switch off the MGU-K through much of the final sector, from Turn 12 to the exit of the final corner, covering approximately 750 meters. How teams choose to deploy electrical energy throughout the lap is likely to become one of the major talking points from the very first practice session.
Turn 9, for example, is not one of the areas where teams can deactivate the MGU-K. While it is difficult to imagine drivers taking the corner flat out, some may choose to lift off the throttle more aggressively than usual in order to conserve energy for the following straight.
“I think clipping is always a complicated topic,” explained Honda power unit programme leader Shintaro Orihara. “The FIA adapts the energy recovery targets according to the characteristics of each circuit. There are corners that can be taken flat out, while others require a slight lift, which inevitably affects energy management. That’s why we constantly monitor throttle application during practice sessions in order to optimize our energy management parameters.”
For that reason, Barcelona could become one of the most revealing tests yet for the 2026 Formula 1 power units, with energy deployment, battery recovery and strategic throttle management potentially proving just as important as outright car performance.
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