Pierre Gasly says Formula 1’s 2026 regulations need refinement around battery use over a lap and in qualifying, but he argues the backlash has gone too far and expects changes to land during the five-week break before Miami. The Alpine driver spoke as debate over energy management grew after Oliver Bearman’s heavy Suzuka crash while avoiding a slow car, an incident that pushed the FIA to pause and review the new rules.
Drivers and fans have complained that the 2026 package puts too much focus on harvesting and deploying energy. The current direction rewards lift-and-coast and superclipping. That means fewer laps at full pace. It also hurts qualifying, where drivers say they need to charge even for a single hot lap. The result is less freedom to push from start to finish, and more planning around state of charge rather than pure speed.
Bearman’s crash at Suzuka became the flashpoint. Anger spiked as drivers warned that cars running slow to harvest can create closing speed differences. The FIA then moved to a review aimed at lowering the risk of such situations and at easing the strain on qualifying. The focus sits on how much energy drivers can use and when they can recover it, with the goal of keeping the cars predictable in traffic and flat-out in timed laps.
Gasly supports changes, but not a rewrite. He wants targeted tweaks that improve how the cars recover and deploy energy without removing the challenge. He says driver skill still shows under the current constraints, from how they shape laps to how they manage grip. He also believes some of the loudest claims go beyond the facts. He points to places like Sector 1 at Suzuka, where grip levels mean the issues feel less severe than headlines suggest.
He expects the sport to settle on smart fixes during the hiatus before Miami. That window gives time to adjust energy rules and the qualifying format so drivers can push without awkward charging patterns on a one-lap run. He views the process as an update, not a U-turn, and stresses that a balanced package can keep strategy while restoring more flat-out driving.
Gasly’s stance carries weight because he has been one of the early-season standouts in Alpine’s improved A526. His form shows that teams and drivers can adapt to new limits and find performance. For him, the path forward is clear: tune the energy rules and qualifying to reduce risk and restore rhythm, avoid blanket condemnation, and let the mid-season review deliver concrete steps.