Source:REUTERS/FRANCK ROBICHON
[Saba Sports News] The debate continues over whether overtaking under the 2026 regulations has become too dull, but Charles Leclerc offered a different perspective. The Ferrari driver believes that as drivers gradually master how to use the battery, attack and defense in races are becoming more natural. The new rules greatly increased the importance of the electric energy system, making race rhythm largely dependent on storing and deploying battery power. In the first two races, the number of overtakes clearly rose. Many observers, however, say that this increase is mostly due to straight-line speed differences caused by varying energy levels between cars, rather than traditional head-to-head combat. As a result, races have taken on a give-and-take character: the car with more energy gains the advantage, and positions then swap.
Leclerc says the experience in the cockpit is not what people outside describe. He admits that when a driver makes a mistake in battery management and runs out of energy, there can indeed be a pronounced speed drop that creates an easy overtaking opportunity. But overall, drivers are gradually finding more sensible boundaries for using their energy, which in turn produces more strategic overtaking moments.
The editor believes the current rule set still needs refinement, especially for qualifying. Compared with the race, which is gradually adapting to the strategic changes brought by battery management, qualifying still falls short in terms of driving feel and competitive purity and requires further adjustments to better match traditional F1 characteristics.