After the first half of the 2026 Formula 1 season, Pierre Gasly offered his assessment of the category’s new cars. In an interview with Autocar, the Alpine driver stated that the regulations have changed the essence of driving by demanding more energy management and less attack in the corners.
“But I think this went a bit too far, because now we have a lot to manage. You need to drive efficiently, which means you won’t be the fastest possible in every corner.”
According to the Frenchman, one now must decide which sections to attack and where to preserve performance to achieve a faster lap time: “You need to have a certain amount of control and understand which corners demand you push to 100% and in which you should leave a little margin with your driving and how you regain acceleration to secure a faster lap time.”
Gasly also commented on the use of batteries in the 2026 cars, though he avoided going into detail. “Whenever you are able to extract all the power as you exit a corner, it’s a unique feeling, something I never tire of. As for this whole battery story in 2026, I won’t go into details because I’m not a fan of it, and I don’t want to speak with too much boldness about these battery-related matters.”
In the driver’s view, this change goes against everything he has learned since the start of his career. “If you ask me, since the day I started driving a kart, at six years old, there has always been only one rule: when you’re behind the wheel, you simply take the corners as fast as you can. That’s how it has to be.”
Despite the criticism, Gasly emphasized that the cars still impress with their level of aerodynamic load. “We still have a lot of aerodynamic load and downforce on the car. If you pass through Maggotts and Becketts [Silverstone corners], you go through those corners at 270, 280 km/h, reaching a 5G force; it’s definitely a sensation you won’t find anywhere else except in an F1 car,” he concluded.
