McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has identified qualifying as \u201cpriority number one\u201d among the teams to address in upcoming talks on the 2026 regulations.<\/p>\n
Discussions are set to take place in the unplanned April break over the new ruleset, which, while the new cars have delivered a significant increase in on-track overtaking, they have also drawn criticism among the drivers for not being able to push throughout a full lap, due to battery limitations.<\/p>\n
Andrea Stella calls qualifying priority issue in F1 2026 rules<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust.<\/p>\n Several drivers have been vocal in their dislike of the new overall driving experience in Formula 1, particularly when it comes to one-lap pace.<\/p>\n With the new battery requirements in play, drivers have found that sometimes lifting and coasting through corners, taking a small amount of\u00a0 extra speed away, can bring a lap time benefit when battery is deployed again on straights.<\/p>\n The teams are due to sit down with the FIA and FOM next week to analyse the new regulations as they have operated to date, but the McLaren<\/a> team principal identified that, away from safety implications, improving the driving experience in qualifying is a key talking point.<\/p>\n Because of these concerns, Stella pointed to examples around Suzuka as to why he and McLaren will look to bring qualifying into the mix in these meetings.<\/p>\n \u201cI think as an F1 community, we have identified the priority number one, apart from safety issues, that we at McLaren in particular have definitely raised the attention [of], like starts or the risks with the lift and coast of the car ahead for the following car and so on,\u201d he explained in Japan.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom a performance and from driving point of view, the main opportunity that was identified was qualifying, and driving in qualifying to the limit of grip, and to make sure that the drivers that are best at exploiting the grip, and at times, even take the risks to do so, they are rewarded.<\/p>\n More on the 2026 regulations after the first rounds of the season<\/p>\n Max Verstappen\u2019s inspired solution to force F1 2026 rule changes<\/a><\/p>\n F1 cannot ignore warning signs after Oliver Bearman crash exposes 2026 flaws<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think here in Suzuka is, because we have this shortage of energy, we expose some of the limitations of the current regulations.<\/p>\n \u201cYou mentioned Degner One is now a corner in which you almost lift and roll through the corner, and then you have to avoid going on power between Degner One and Two, because that way of using your battery would not be efficient.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead, that corner has always been one that the drivers will mention in a season, like, \u2018what are the most challenging corners?\u2019 That\u2019s one of those. And at the moment, that corner, you think about the battery as you go through the corner. You don\u2019t think about gaining half a tenth just by committing to it. So I think that\u2019s one of those, the first corner of the Spoon as well, and a similar concept applies between the first part and second part of the Spoon.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I think the challenges of Suzuka kind of suffer, and I can understand that the drivers push the F1 community to fix this, such that qualifying retains the excitement, the challenge, the DNA of being the moment in which the best driver gets rewarded, especially in the places where they can make the difference with the bravery and the ability.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this is not obvious as to how to do that, but there are some possibilities. There are some further meetings that will happen between the teams, the FIA and F1 between now and Miami, so let\u2019s see what progress we can do there, but I think it\u2019s something that we should implement.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n