"Nightmare" F1 overtaking aid that 'sends you backwards' criticised

Esteban Ocon has labelled Formula 1’s overtake “boost” system a “nightmare” after struggling to make progress at the Japanese Grand Prix.

A key feature of the all-new F1 regulations for the 2026 season is the introduction of “Overtake Mode”, which allows a driver to recharge an extra +0.5MJ, meaning a higher top speed can be carried for longer before needing to harvest energy back into the battery.

However, deploying this energy to make a pass, then leaves the driver open to an attack on the next straight, which they are defenceless to prevent. Alternatively, should both drivers use battery deployment at the same time, a stalemate ensues.

This has been a frustration of many drivers, including Max Verstappen, whose F1 future has been called into question as a result of the changes and his dislike of them.

Having been stuck behind Liam Lawson for the second half of Sunday’s Suzuka race, Ocon said of the action: “I enjoyed the first half of the race before the safety car. Basically, after that, it was not fun, because it was clearly not enjoyable. But that is part of the race. At Suzuka, it is very difficult to overtake.

“Boost usage has been a nightmare, if you use it, you actually go backwards. So we just tried to stay on the baseline and keep pushing.”

F1 and the FIA has so far been focused improving the obvious problems in qualifying, with drivers being forced to lift and coast on what are supposed to be flat-out efforts to achieve the ultimate lap time.

A further meeting between F1 and the FIA will take place on 9 April in order to discuss initial reactions to the regulations and potential changes, with the extreme closing speeds that were at least partly to blame for Ollie Bearman’s hefty crash a part of these talks.

For Ocon, the focus of these talks needs to be the racing. He added: “I think it’s better to have bigger capacity in the tank, a bit more like last year. To me, it’s energy hungry all of the time, and you can’t really plan anything, you can’t really try and get a move somewhere while overtaking, and it’s too much on the limit really.

“So, I think the fixes I understand for the lift and coast in quali, but it’s maybe 1% of the fix. There’s 99% that’s left on the table.”