![](\"https:\/\/www.grandprix.com\/display\/photo?photo_caption=Charles+Leclerc%2C+Japanese+GP+2026&photo_copyright=%C2%A9+Ferrari&photo_url=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.grandprix.com%2Fjpeg%2Fraces%2Fpjap26%2Ffri%2Ffer%2Fleclerc1-lg.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nCharles Leclerc, Japanese GP 2026
\u00a9 Ferrari<\/p>\n
Asked whether the FIA’s minor tweak to qualifying energy usage had helped, Carlos Sainz simply smiled: No.<\/p>\n
The issue was highlighted during Kimi Antonelli’s pole lap, which Formula 1 attempted to showcase on social media – only for viewers to notice the onboard feed cut away before the legendary and high-speed 130R corner.<\/p>\n
The possible reason was obvious – cars were shedding more than 50kph through one of the fastest corners in world motorsport, as the need to harvest energy kicked into overdrive.<\/p>\n
Formula 1 later claimed a technical issue.<\/p>\n
Kimi’s on-board camera experienced technical issues midway through his lap, so we can’t show you the full footage of that lap, a spokesman insisted.<\/p>\n
But driver reaction was far more direct.<\/p>\n
Charles Leclerc erupted on the radio after his qualifying lap. I cannot stand these rules! he said. It’s a f*cking joke.<\/p>\n
He later explained the fundamental problem.<\/p>\n
When you try to push more in the corners, you go slower on the straights and on the stopwatch, Leclerc said, adding: I know the FIA is working on leveling the playing field, but it’s a big disadvantage in qualifying at the moment.<\/p>\n
The frustration is now widespread across the grid.<\/p>\n
I just heard what Oliver Bearman said, and it’s absolutely true – you can be faster through every corner, but still finish the lap slower, said Alexander Albon.<\/p>\n
Reigning world champion Lando Norris called the situation heartbreaking.<\/p>\n
Compared to last year and the previous few, it’s heartbreaking to be here at Suzuka and see how much the speed drops, he said.<\/p>\n
Fernando Alonso was even more blunt.<\/p>\n
The fun is over, he said. The great challenges of the Suzuka race track, it has all disappeared with these cars.<\/p>\n
I maintain that the once magnificent top-speed corners of Formula 1 have now degenerated into charging zones for the car’s battery. Very regrettable.<\/p>\n
Amid the criticism, the competitive picture is also becoming increasingly clear, with Mercedes firmly in control and the rest struggling to keep up.<\/p>\n
If I get a good start, then maybe I can put the Mercedes drivers under a little pressure, Leclerc said. But there will come a point when they pull away from us unchallenged. Their lead is simply too big at the moment.<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton agreed the gap is huge, while Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur is already looking to the upcoming break for answers.<\/p>\n
A new championship begins with the race weekend in Miami, he said.<\/p>\n
(GMM)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MARCH 29, 2026 Formula 1’s 2026 regulations are facing growing backlash after qualifying at Suzuka starkly exposed the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":571673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[944,855,884,911,898,64,63,839,840,892,936,937,922,864,868,843,512,874,906,897,817,836,904,848,845,826,837,813,835,816,867,876,894,841,842,833,908,887,860,909,930,914,939,886,934,832,834,858,941,875,861,850,870,854,900,866,846,880,943,889,878,823,881,863,933,935,910,859,913,844,923,927,896,926,883,938,932,824,901,871,852,849,888,872,891,915,822,838,918,916,857,879,893,869,931,885,924,847,882,851,865,925,928,942,929,85,920,921,902,862,919,917,873,940,905,912,895,853,856,877,819,903,899,907,890],"class_list":["post-571672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-abu-dhabi","tag-adrian-sutil","tag-albers","tag-alesi","tag-ammermuller","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-autoracing","tag-autos","tag-badoer","tag-bahrain","tag-barcelona","tag-benetton","tag-bruno-senna","tag-button","tag-cars","tag-china","tag-david-coulthard","tag-davidson","tag-doornbos","tag-f1","tag-f1-racing","tag-fauzy","tag-felipe-massa","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-ferrari","tag-fia","tag-formula-1","tag-formula-one","tag-formula1","tag-giancarlo-fisichella","tag-gilles-villeneuve","tag-glock","tag-grand-prix","tag-grandprix","tag-grandprix-com","tag-hakkinen","tag-hamilton","tag-heikki-kovalainen","tag-hill","tag-hockenheim","tag-honda","tag-hungary","tag-ide","tag-indianapolis","tag-inside-f1","tag-insidef1-com","tag-jaime-alguesuari","tag-japan","tag-jaques-villeneuve","tag-jarno-trulli","tag-jenson-button","tag-juan-pablo-montoya","tag-kamui-kobayashi","tag-karthikeyan","tag-karun-chandhok","tag-kimi-raikkonen","tag-klien","tag-korea","tag-kovalainen","tag-kubica","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-liuzzi","tag-lucas-di-grassi","tag-magny-cours","tag-malaysia","tag-mansell","tag-mark-webber","tag-mclaren","tag-michael-schumacher","tag-minardi","tag-monaco","tag-montagny","tag-monte-carlo","tag-monteiro","tag-montreal","tag-monza","tag-motorsport","tag-nakajima","tag-nick-heidfeld","tag-nico-hulkenberg","tag-nico-rosberg","tag-paffett","tag-pedro-de-la-rosa","tag-piquet","tag-prost","tag-racing","tag-racingcars","tag-red-bull","tag-renault","tag-robert-kubica","tag-rosberg","tag-rossiter","tag-rubens-barrichello","tag-san-marino","tag-sato","tag-sauber","tag-schumacher","tag-scott-speed","tag-sebastian-vettel","tag-sebastien-buemi","tag-senna","tag-silverstone","tag-singapore","tag-spa","tag-sports","tag-spyker","tag-super-aguri","tag-sutil","tag-timo-glock","tag-toro-rosso","tag-toyota","tag-trulli","tag-turkey","tag-valles","tag-verstappen","tag-vettel","tag-vitaly-petrov","tag-vitantonio-liuzzi","tag-webber","tag-williams","tag-winkelhock","tag-wurz","tag-yamamoto","tag-zonta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}