Energy management at Spa-Francorchamps has been the headline this weekend, as the 2026 power units proved too fickle for even the most experienced drivers.
“Energy‑starved” Spa puts 2026 power units to the test
The Ardennes track’s long straights and fast corners drain the 540‑hp internal‑combustion core, leaving little room to harvest regenerative energy. That pales against the roughly 620‑hp Mecachrome engines that run Formula 2 cars.
Self‑learning engines amplify the problem
McLaren’s Andrea Stella explained that the 2026 units feature a self‑learning function that adapts lap‑by‑lap. He warned that minuscule differences in driver input can ripple through a lap, and so can factors outside a driver’s control, such as grip variation and wind shifts.
Because the system reacts so sensitively, Piastri lost substantial time to Norris during Saturday qualifying, even though both cars ran identical settings. Stella added that George Russell had similarly struggled, unable to account for the loss on straights, which he reported to Kimi Antonelli.
Drivers say control is slipping
Piastri admitted he is not alone in feeling that the grid is being dictated by computer behaviour. “It’s a pretty crappy way of going racing,” he said, noting that qualifying can end with a driver who felt on par with a teammate now trailing by two‑tenths.
Norris echoed the sentiment, saying that at circuits where energy management matters more, drivers have “way too many things that are out of our control.” He described it as “just hoping the power unit does what it should, and doesn’t do something silly.”
No quick fix on the horizon
Although the balance is shifting to a 60‑40 split between internal combustion and electric power in two stages, Piastri believes the underlying issue lies in how the engine learns and calibrates. “Changing fuel flow and less deployment won’t fix it,” he warned. “It’s about engine calibration and learning, ingrained into the unit.”
He added that the problem is industry‑wide, affecting all manufacturers, and that improvements will only come as teams gain deeper understanding of the units.
With Spa proving the first real-time test where the power unit’s quirks have cost a driver a full season’s worth of performance, teams face a new optimisation battle that could redefine the 2026 Formula 1 campaign.
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