F1 power units hit with fresh criticism: 'That meant we had less power than F2'
Photo: Race Pictures
13:02, 21 Jul
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Kada Sárközi joined GPblog as an editor ahead of the 2023 Formula 1 season. He graduated with a BA in Sports Journalism in the UK and has covered Grands Prix and other F1 events live.
Like several other F1 drivers, Oliver Bearman was also critical of the F1 power units after the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Briton finished 14th last Sunday. He explained that because the different power unit manufacturers deployed their batteries differently, overtaking proved to be too challenging.
Speaking to GPblog, among others, he explained: "I mean, it was the same as what we were expecting, not better, not worse.
"It's tough, you know, particularly to the Mercedes power units, we were deploying very differently, and it's so hard to mount and overtake. Even in the case of Alex [Albon], I was decently faster, but I just couldn't overtake easily because they have so much power in different places to us.
"It's tough. And then, of course, you spend a lot of time superclipping, a lot of time in just ICE, which means you have less power than F2, which is not the most fun, but that's how we land in reality."
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Photo: Race Pictures
Spa and Silverstone will be 'horrible' over the next years
According to the young driver, energy-draining tracks such as Spa and Silverstone will be 'horrible' over the coming years
"None of us are happy with what we're driving. That's very clear. That's never changed. Of course, we get used to it and we deal with it and we know it's not going to change, so we're not going to complain about it every weekend.
"But this track, Silverstone, Monza, these are all going to be horrible ones for the next few years, unfortunately," he concluded.
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Piastri fed up with 2026 F1 being decided by 'computers behaving or misbehaving'
Speaking to media, including GPblog, Piastri also voiced his concerns: "It sucks. I can’t really say it any other way than that. I certainly wouldn’t have been the only person [to complain]. I know George [Russell] has had a lot of issues with that this weekend and maybe the last couple of weekends, and speaking to some others, it’s a similar story.
"When you’ve got qualifying grids decided by computers behaving or misbehaving, it’s a pretty crap way of going racing," the Australian added.
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Friday 24.07.26
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