Is F1 right to ban power unit algorithms? That is why the FIA says no

One of the biggest talking points came at Spa-Francorchamps with Oscar Piastri raising the issue of drivers being caught out by their own power units.

The Australian lost a lot of time to team-mate Lando Norris in qualifying on the straights, something McLaren could not initially explain.

When team principal Andrea Stella held his media session on Saturday evening the Italian explained that the power unit settings on both cars were virtually identical and he pointed towards the “self-learning elements” of the power unit.

This is not the Artificial Intelligence most people would think of, but it does involve forward thinking algorithms that learn lap to lap and even within a lap. If the energy management deviates from the ideal, these algorithms can adapt and determine the best deployment strategy for the rest of the lap.

There are two problematic aspects, however. And first of all, drivers don’t have complete control. “Still plays a major role, but these systems are sensitive to driver input,” said Stella. “But the same thing applies to external factors that are out of the driver’s control. Wind conditions or grip levels changing.

The second issue is that the drivers can get bit by their own power unit, which Piastri touched on at Spa. “It sucks. I really can’t put it in any other way than that. “It’s a pretty crap way of going racing when you’ve got qualifying grids decided by computers doing things or not doing things.”

''I don't think humans are capable of rational control of these parameters'

FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis told Motorsport.com and a small group of media he appreciates the drivers’ frustrations with these self-learning elements. "Well, it is true and their comments are understandable," he said. I think what they're saying is a function of the fact that energy is limited and so how you best manage it becomes supercritical. And then the different strategies that have to be used to do that are related to that. "

This raises the question of whether such self-learning elements could be banned altogether, leaving drivers in full control of deployment via a button on the steering wheel.

After all, Article B1.8.1 of the regulations states that "the driver must drive the F1 car alone and unaided".

But Tombazis believes banning such algorithms would be an overly simplistic idea. “I don’t think you could go to that extreme,” he added. First of all, if it was just very on-off for the driver whenever they feel like it and as much as they like they would use all energy on corner exit for a very limited amount of time. And then the effects people are complaining about would be even more obvious.

Thus, the straights would see the top speeds reached even earlier and the amount of clipping would increase considerably. They would use all the electrical power available to drivers on corner exit and would run out of deployment even sooner on the straight than they do today.

"And secondly, there are limitations about how much energy you can deploy or recover on the lap or the socalled SOC delta, the state of charge delta, things like that," said Tombazis. "That are limitations that are necessary to prevent, let's say, an arms race and the teams to have an even bigger battery for example. We didn’t want teams to have to build a battery twice the size and then have heavier cars again.

Tombazis believes it is very difficult for a human to figure out the optimal strategy for deployment given all those constraints and the complexity of power units today. "So I don't think humans can rationally control all of these parameters."

Is there a way out for the next few years?”

iastri has also suggested that even the 60-40 power split, which F1 will gradually move to for the 2028 season, won’t solve this issue. "It's in the DNA of the current engine regulations," said the McLaren driver.

Tombazis, however, thinks the announced changes will improve the situation and give drivers a little more control again.

“Energy management is important when you have a big electrical part and you don’t count on having a full battery when you start,” he said. “I think Oscar’s a very intelligent driver, but I think he’s seeing what he feels is the prevailing opinion at the moment.

I think we’ll be a step better when we go to the rebalancing. Will it be eradicated entirely? No, but I do believe it will be a step better."

Tombazis finished by saying that this piece of the 2026 regulations is a little more complex than the FIA would have ideally preferred so that was the reason he understands the frustrations.

“It is complicated, no doubt. And it’s more complicated than we would like, absolutely, 100 percent, I fully agree with them,” he said. But I think this is a symptom of the fundamental core problem.