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Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali believes fans can’t tell the difference between genuine racing and position changes caused by differences in energy deployment.
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The new power units introduced this year have caused an increase in passes which arise when drivers deploy energy at different points on the track, creating what some termed “yo-yo racing”.
Domenicali has previously rejected criticisms of F1’s racing in 2026 but has conceded the sport must make changes to its deeply unpopular engine regulations. However he claimed fans have had an extremely positive reaction to the racing this year.
“There is a lot of action on the track,” Domenicali told the BBC. “People are loving it. They are focused on what is happening on the track.
“They don’t understand our technology, division [definition] of ‘clipping’, or whatever it is, because it’s too technical for the wider base that we have. Therefore, the effect on the track has been widely super-positive about [among] the fans.”
F1 drivers have reiterated their unhappiness with the current power units following recent races. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri described them as “a crap way of going racing” and Hungarian Grand Prix winner Lando Norris said F1 had ruined its regulations because it was desperate to attract new engine manufacturers such as Audi.
Max Verstappen described how he “started laughing” during his first experience of driving Spa-Francorchamps under F1’s 2026 rules in Red Bull’s simulator. Fernando Alonso said the current F1 cars have less energy than F2 machines over a lap of Spa.
Domenicali said he has told drivers to offer “constructive” comments and denied he was trying to censor them. “I prefer to discuss things in that respect in four walls to find solutions.”
Despite Domenicali’s repeated defence of F1’s engine regulations, the series has reacted quickly to introduce changes, some of which came into effect after the fifth round. It intends to abandon the ’50-50′ power split between combustion and electrical energy – a key feature of the current power units which F1 promoted heavily in the years before the new engines arrived – moving to a 60-40 split by 2028.
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