The new F1 regulations have been under fire in recent months. The sport has been repeatedly compared to the video game Mario Kart. Due to the different electric modes, overtaking would become too artificial, with the now well-known ‘yo-yo racing’ strongly linked to the battery percentage. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali defends the regulations and emphasizes that overtaking has been influenced by technical conditions for decades.
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Thanks to the new powertrain, where power is distributed between a battery and the combustion engine, much more emphasis has been placed on energy management. Drivers can use an electric boost to overtake their competitors, but once the battery runs out, the roles are quickly reversed. This often led to ‘yo-yo racing’ in the first Grands Prix. For example, a frustrated Max Verstappen was continuously swapping places with Pierre Gasly during the Japanese GP. When the Frenchman easily passed him again – with the help of his battery – Verstappen cynically waved a hand.
Has existed for years
Domenicali defends this new style of racing in an interview with the British Autosport. “Some say overtaking is now artificial, but what is artificial?”, he wondered. “I mean: overtaking is overtaking.” Another sensitive point is the fact that drivers ease off during qualifying laps to recharge the battery. Without electric power, ‘superclipping’ occurs, where the car loses a lot of speed because the battery needs to be charged. According to Domenicali, however, this phenomenon has always existed.
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“I was already following Formula 1 in the turbo era of the 1980s,” he continued. “Back then, letting off the gas and coasting – and using different turbo settings and speeds – was standard practice. You had to control yourself, otherwise the fuel tank would run out too quickly. Maybe some people who are critical now have a short memory, because this has existed for years.”
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