After every Formula 1 race, driver Jeroen Bleekemolen shares his findings in an exclusive column for Formule1.nl. Who or what caught his eye, what went well, and what needs to change? This time: the shock of Melbourne! It seems that Formula 1 has become a completely different sport, and that is difficult (read: impossible) to digest.
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“I’ll admit it right away, I was quite shocked by the first F1 weekend in Australia. Despite the fact that we all saw it coming a bit, I thought it just didn’t look right. Drivers having to lift off the throttle to recharge the battery… in my opinion, this isn’t racing! Formula 1 has become a completely different sport.
If you compare this to Formula 2. Fortunately, that is still real racing. Different names, different teams, but more spectacle. Maybe I should just watch Formula 2 from now on.
The second sector of the circuit in Melbourne is full throttle for so long. The drivers simply couldn’t get the battery recharged on Sunday. It almost hurt the eyes to see. Also in qualifying on Saturday: those guys arrived at turn 9 and just had to lift off completely because they were recharging, and that is the fastest way in 2026 with the new generation of cars.
For a track like Monaco
We are all saying now that it was also due to the circuit and that better circuits are coming with the new rules in mind, but I sincerely wonder about that. In Shanghai next weekend, you will face the same problem, and the same applies to the race after that, in Japan. Actually, the same applies to almost every circuit, because F1 cars can take so many fast corners full throttle, which essentially makes the straights longer. Only a track like Monaco might be the exception to the rule.
The FIA really needs to do something about this. This is simply not how car racing should be! It’s a lot less fun, at least in my eyes, to watch. Take Max Verstappen on Sunday. He had to start at the back due to his crash in qualifying on Saturday, but he then drove past everyone in the race because he was much faster and could charge better. So the overtaking wasn’t exciting at all. Max eventually got behind Lando Norris but couldn’t get past because it was fairly equal.
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In other words, overtaking is either too easy or too difficult, depending on the difference between them. And the Overtake-mode doesn’t make a difference at all either. I think George Russell and Kimi Antonelli are the only drivers who are happy with the new generation of cars. Logical too, because they mainly look at their own interests and they know they can go full for the title this season.
Something has to happen, that’s for sure. But I expect that Formula 1 will initially be reluctant to implement major adjustments. And what can you do? You can play around with certain values, but the problem remains essentially unchanged: the cars cannot charge enough compared to what they can release. In other words, as a driver, you remain too busy charging your battery, and I don’t see how they can get away from that. Okay, you need to go to more engine power and less battery power, but how you can arrange that in the short term seems incredibly complicated to me.
Not a matter of getting used to it
Well, it threatens to be a very long season. At least for me as a fan. Maybe this new Formula 1 is a matter of getting used to for many, but that doesn’t apply to me. Drivers and die-hard racing fans won’t get used to this. Fortunately, we still have Formula 2. I was on the edge of my seat watching last weekend. In Formula 2, they fortunately still have the old-fashioned DRS…
Personally, I was also able to enjoy myself again on Sunday at the Porsche Sprint Challenge at the Sebring International Raceway in Florida. Sebring is a circuit where things are always intense. Here it was simply a matter of pushing as hard as you can, without having to save anything anywhere. No saving tires, no saving battery, just floor it! Wonderful!”
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Read everything about the Australian GP here
