Racing“A full battery overtaking an empty battery. That’s not real overtaking.” Helmut Marko did not soften his words, and he did not stop there. The former Red Bull motorsport advisor said the new 2026 Formula 1 rules push drivers into extreme energy games that warp the racing, and he flagged a 30 mph speed gap in the Japanese Grand Prix between Haas rookie Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto as a safety warning. Marko told ORF that all sides will meet again on April 20 to decide fixes after technical and sporting talks in mid-April.
Marko said the conflict sits in how much energy management the rules demand. According to his comments to ORF, the new format forces drivers to lift and coast, downshift on straights and deal with “super clipping,” which keeps them from pushing flat out in qualifying or over a race stint. He argued it puts software strategy over driving.
The power unit balance is his main target. Marko said the near 50:50 split between internal combustion and electric power “sounds good on paper, but it doesn’t work because the battery has to be charged. And if there aren’t enough zones where it can charge,” you end up with drivers saving and harvesting instead of racing. In a separate interview with Kleine Zeitung, he urged a reset: “Changes need to be made now, and hopefully the FIA will do everything in its power to reduce the battery’s share and focus more on the combustion engine.” He also said, “It’s too complicated and the software plays too dominant a role,” adding that driving skill must return to the front.
Safety framed much of his case. Marko pointed to the Bearman and Colapinto clash in Japan, saying on ORF that harvesting created “a 30 mph difference” and that Bearman arrived “with an excess speed of over 50 km/h.” He likened the slower car to “a vehicle… standing still,” which he said must be avoided. He also said starts have been inconsistent and have created dangerous moments.
On the process, Marko said stakeholders first met on April 9 to assess changes, with a sporting group meeting on April 15 and a technical group meeting on April 16. He told ORF the plan is to reconvene on April 20 and decide what to adjust for this season and the following campaigns.
The mood in the paddock is tense, Marko said, and the drivers feel it. He told ORF that sentiment is negative, naming Max Verstappen as the most vocal and “weighing up his future.” He sided with Lewis Hamilton’s assessment of what will matter under the rules: “I think Hamilton is right [over energy management]. But that takes us away from what Formula 1 stands for, where the fastest driver in a good car or the best car wins.” On the pass-and-repass pattern, he was blunt in his ORF remarks: “That’s not real overtaking.”