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Fears Formula 1’s new power units would spoil the spectacle of qualifying at Suzuka have prompted the FIA to impose lower energy limits.

Drivers were originally permitted to recharge their batteries at the maximum allowed rate of 9MJ per lap at Suzuka, as they were two weeks ago in Shanghai. The FIA has reduced this to 8MJ, closer to the lower limit of 7MJ used at the season-opening race at Melbourne.

That first event revealed how seriously the drivers’ need to conserve energy in their new power units compromised the challenge of qualifying. Drivers were nowhere near the handling limits of their cars in high-speed corners like turn nine, where they lifted the throttle hundreds of metres early and cut their speeds by over 50kph.

This raised concerns many of F1’s most challenging corners, such as Suzuka’s Esses, Degner and Spoon bends, would be neutered by the 2026 rules. By imposing a lower rate limit than planned, the FIA hopes to reduce the benefit drivers will gain by lifting-and-coasting into corners.

It called the 11% reduction a “minor adjustment” and said F1’s five power unit manufacturers unanimously backed the change. “This adjustment reflects feedback from drivers and teams, who have emphasised the importance of maintaining qualifying as a performance challenge,” said the FIA in a statement.

However Oliver Bearman pointed out the change will have the overall effect of reducing the cars’ performance. He believes a better solution would be to allow drivers to harvest more electrical energy while they are running flat-out.

“It’s just making us even slower,” said the Haas driver. “On one hand we don’t have to do any lift-and-coasts anymore which is probably a bit better for us but it just means we have to a lot of… I mean, we still have to recharge the energy and we spend a lot of time just with no energy because we’re losing 1MJ compared to what we had on the sim[ulator] prior to coming here.

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“So I think there’s better ways of achieving the same thing. If we could harvest at negative 350 kilowatts while on full throttle, I think it would make everyone’s lives a bit easier. But this is also a solution, I guess.”

Despite criticisms from many drivers over the increasingly artificial nature of racing produced by F1’s latest rules, the FIA has made no changes to the power unit parameters for the grand prix. However it indicated further changes remain on the table.

“The first events under the 2026 regulations have been operationally successful,” it said, “and this targeted refinement is part of the normal process of optimisation as the new regulatory framework is further validated in real-world conditions.”

“The FIA, together with F1 teams and power unit manufacturers, continues to embrace evolutions to energy management, with further discussions scheduled in the coming weeks,” it added.

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