F1 drivers engaged in 'mental warfare' as 'physical combat' skill declines

Alex Albon believes F1 drivers are now more engaged in "mental warfare" rather than "physical combat" during grands prix. 

The new energy management demands in 2026 have brought about a huge change in how drivers go about wheel-to-wheel racing and setting up overtakes, as deploying their battery to pass a rival means they will be immediately re-passed in what is known as 'yo-yo racing.'

This is only a concern on 'energy-starved' tracks such as Australia's Albert Park, Japan's Suzuka, Britain's Silverstone, Belgium's Spa or Italy's Monza, whilst other circuits such as Monaco, the Hungaroring in Hungary and the Netherlands' Zandvoort are known as 'energy-rich' meaning cars can continually harvest energy to deploy. 

In pre-season, the new demands were likened to a high-speed game of chess, with Williams racer Albon going further and explaining how drivers can no longer play certain "games" with rivals.

"I think the mental warfare has overtaken the physical combat in the sense that it is now very much about the [energy] management," Albon told media, including RacingNews365. 

"I think it is more tactical. There is an element of tactics where last year, you could only play DRS games, like trying to back off and get a car to go in front of you on the DRS line. 

"There were still anti-overtaking things that you could do, but this is more like GPS data analysis going on at the factory giving us immediate response times of what we can do and what mode switches we need to change to anticipate what cars are doing around us. 

"In many ways, it is tactical, but at the same time, sometimes, we feel helpless, like you just cannot defend anymore."

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Albon on a lack of 'defensive skills'

The Thai also expanded on how the rules were restricting the ability of the drivers to show off their defensive skills when in battle.

"There are no real defensive skills because the overtake is such an overrun," he said.

"I feel like we've missed a bit of the you've got to overtake on the brakes, you've got to get the car offline, get clean air, get dirty air, and I miss that.

"But in terms of the tactics, I've spent a lot more time speaking with HPP this year than I did last year."

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