Pierre Gasly declares risk of F1 drivers becoming 'passengers' with new rules

Pierre Gasly believes F1 drivers are at risk of becoming "passengers" in their cars, such is the complex nature of the new rules.

Although drivers can select energy recovery levels on their new 2026 power units, the actual harvesting is done automatically via the electrical control unit (ECU).

The active aerodynamics can also be automatically switched off to prevent drivers from using straight-line mode through certain corners, to prevent drivers from trying to go through them with the wings active, as Jack Doohan tried to do at Suzuka in FP1 in 2025.

As drivers grapple with trying to learn all the new systems and procedures, Alpine's Gasly has explained how he believes those drivers with extra mental capacity might not be able to thrive, given the level of automation.

"There is so much to take into consideration at the moment that it is difficult to get my head around it," Gasly told media, including RacingNews365. 

"With the ICE engine, you pretty much know the deployment of the other guys, so I know what the Mercedes engine is going to be like, so I can go racing knowing that when someone decides to commit to a bit more on a straight, he will suffer on another straight.

"What is harder to figure out is what the other engine manufacturers are doing; they might deploy more in one straight, or less in another, and this will create bigger differences in racing situations where you have both cars at full power with straight line mode on. There won't be much slipstream or speed difference.

"For the same engine, someone who has more capacity to figure it all out and how to get on top of the energy management [will benefit], but at the same time, there's quite a lot of stuff we don't have control over.

"So it feels like we are more on the passenger side with what we can do inside the car, but I think it is going to evolve, but it is not like a case of: 'Oh, I am going to recharge my battery now and deploy it here because I decide to do this and that.'

"There might be some engines which allow that, and others which don't, but I still don't think it is going to be as straightforward as the guys with more capacity will be able to do better, as I'm not sure he'll have the tools to actually do the stuff he wants.

"There is so much we want to answer, but we need to discover proper racing scenarios, and what I suggest is qualifying on pole, and life will be a lot easier starting from there."