McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has predicted the opening Formula 1 race of 2026 could test drivers’ management skills to the limit.
A major talking point of the pre-season Bahrain test has been the extreme management of the battery and energy deployment required by drivers.
Cars are audibly lifting through corners while on circuit to save the battery, downshifting aggressively into Turn 1, formerly a third-gear corner.
Drivers have expressed displeasure at the new driving style, with Fernando Alonso suggesting the Aston Martin Chief could drive through Turn 12 at the current speeds.
A heavy braking circuit in Bahrain offers opportunities to limit the need for harvesting, Stella explained the differences between Barcelona and Bahrain in terms of energy management.
“I think in 2026 we will have to look at the characteristics of the circuits, including this feature related to how easy it is as a circuit for the power unit requirement,” he said to media, including Motorsport Week.
“So Barcelona was actually relatively demanding in terms of balance between deployment and harvesting. Here in Bahrain it was relatively easier because you spend enough time in braking that basically you do all the harvesting braking.
“You don’t need to do anything special in terms of lifting off, for instance, in order to add the time at which you harvest your power unit.”
Andrea Stella fears the F1 grid in Australia will be preoccupied with managing energy levels
Energy management woes for McLaren and the grid in Australia?
However, Stella has raised concerns about energy management in Australia, resulting in the drivers being preoccupied with energy management due to the circuit characteristics.
“So in Australia, it will be a little bit more difficult. I think we will see the drivers will be busier in terms of their driving style to make sure that the power unit is exploited in terms of harvesting energy and deployment of energy in a way that is efficient.
“And when we say efficient, it means efficient for a long time. But then you have to go racing, and when you have to go racing you have to defend, you have to attack.
“So here one thing we needed to learn is also how to use the features available in the power unit and what kind of new features you need to have available under the driver’s control such that the power unit is not only competitive from a lap time point of view, but also from a raceability point of view, like when you have to compete with your rivals on track.We have learned a lot during this test.
“There’s been really strong collaboration with HPP. We are very grateful for the efforts that HPP have pulled off to make sure that we are making progress every single day.But I do see that there’s still quite a lot to learn and definitely more work to do in terms of engine control, power unit control and power unit exploitation.”
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