Martin Brundle has raised a \u201cfundamental\u201d problem with the 2026 Formula 1 machinery after drivers numerous drivers have been vocal in their criticisms across the opening three rounds of the season.<\/p>\n
The new era of F1 has been met with a mixed reception, with the number of overtakes increasing dramatically, but many of these being labelled as \u201cartificial\u201d, with drivers unable to defend their positions due to the limited battery deployment available.<\/p>\n
However, Japan saw McLaren\u2019s<\/a> Lando Norris<\/a> add a new category, with an \u2018accidental\u2019 pass on Lewis Hamilton<\/a> in the closing stages.<\/p>\n The reigning champion said: \u201cI didn\u2019t even want to overtake Lewis, it\u2019s just about when the battery deploys, and I don\u2019t want it to deploy, but I can\u2019t control it. So I overtake him, and then I have no battery, so he just flies past.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cThe problem is, it deploys into 130R. I have to lift, otherwise I’ll drive into him, and I’m not allowed to go back on throttle.<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n \u201cIf I go on throttle, my battery deploys, and I don’t want it to deploy because it should have cut. But because you lift and you have to go back on, it redeploys. There’s nothing I can do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Former driver turned commentator Brundle now believes that the FIA must look into this issue and make a change, citing a regulation that has \u201cbeen around for forever\u201d as his reasoning.<\/p>\n Speaking on The F1 Show, he said: \u201cI think the problem the drivers have got; one thing that really worried me was Lando Norris saying \u2018I didn\u2019t want to overtake Lewis Hamilton, but my battery decided it did, and then I had nothing to defend with\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, there\u2019s a regulation in Formula 1, it\u2019s been around for forever, it\u2019s very simple and far-reaching. The driver must drive the car alone and unaided.<\/p>\n \u201cThe drivers shouldn\u2019t have any surprises by a self-learning car. They\u2019ve got to get rid of that. I\u2019m sure it\u2019s not the work of a moment, but the power delivery must be proportional to what the drivers are doing with the throttle.<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the fundamental. It has to be linear. It\u2019s a big issue for the FIA.\u201d<\/p>\n The issue has further been highlighted this season with drivers sliding in qualifying, needing to lift slightly, and then being helpless to prevent their batteries from being instantly drained, costing them time and grid positions.<\/p>\n It was also a factor in Ollie Bearman\u2019s heavy crash in Japan, with Franco Colapinto travelling 50kph slower than the Haas driver who was chasing him down, despite being flat out.<\/p>\n Subscribe to our F1 Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Martin Brundle has raised a \u201cfundamental\u201d problem with the 2026 Formula 1 machinery after drivers numerous drivers have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[10968,64,63,817,813,816,1737,22298,85],"class_list":["post-591238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-10968","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-lando-norris","tag-martin-brundle","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591238","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=591238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}