During the media day of the Chinese GP in Shanghai, drivers made strong criticisms about the current state of Formula 1. Terms like “fake” and “racing without balls” reflect the competitors’ dissatisfaction with the new generation of cars and the impact of battery management on performance.
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Sergio Pérez, from Cadillac, opened the interview day stating that the new regulation is “fake”. According to him, racing today depends more on who manages the battery better than on driving. “Racing with the new generation of F1 cars has little to do with driving and everything to do with who has the most charged battery,” he said.
Oscar Piastri detailed how the energy strategy affects driving: “I was getting braver and braver during qualifying, and that made me slower on the straights,” revealed the McLaren driver. In the new regulation, fast corners require low gears and high RPM to recharge the battery; otherwise, the lap time worsens.
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Red Bull’s four-time champion, Max Verstappen, agrees: it’s no longer the fastest driver who wins, but who manages the energy better. “The more you accelerate, the more battery you use. The later you brake, the earlier you accelerate, the worse it is for the battery,” he explained to GPblog.
The discontent adds to the perception that the promise of “entertainment” from the new generations of cars, seen at the Australian GP, was illusory. According to the drivers, some rules should be reviewed to improve the regulation.
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