FIA urged to be “open-minded” over 2026 F1 energy management fears

Williams Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz has urged the FIA to remain “open-minded” to alter the 2026 rules surrounding energy management if they become “exaggerated”.

The new-for-2026 power units feature a 50/50 split between internal combustion and battery power, with the MGU-H portion of the engine scrapped.

While this has led to greater power delivery from the battery, it has also meant drivers are having to do far more energy management across a lap.

In qualifying, drivers are expecting to have to lift-and-coast on flying laps because of this.

This is also due to change from track to track, with Carlos Sainz urging on Thursday at the Bahrain test for the FIA to be adaptable to stop this becoming “exaggerated”.

“I think Melbourne is going to be more challenging for sure, but I cannot tell you how much because I haven't run the calibrations in the simulator of what we're going to find ourselves in Melbourne with,” he said.

“I think in general, my message to the FOM and FIA is I think the start of the year we need to stay a bit open-minded in case the regulations that we've come up with are maybe a bit exaggerated on the amount of harvesting or deployment that we have to do through a lap, which might make some circuits okay, like potentially here [Bahrain], even though I still think here is not fully okay with what we're seeing so far.

“But tracks like Melbourne or potentially Jeddah, tracks that might be more energy demanding, I think we might need to adjust a bit the regulations.

“And fair play is not easy because it's such a big change that I don't think anyone knew how to predict how much downforce, drag the car was going to have, what level of deployment the teams would come up with.

“But so far, I would say I would only ask to stay open in case we need to fine-tune or adjust to make the category and make the show better. That's my only message.

“I think that I think we should start to stay flexible rather than be committed to a certain level of energy management.”

The amount of energy management that has so far been required by drivers in testing led to Max Verstappen branding the new rules as “Formula E on steroids”.