‘We need to stay open-minded,’ says Sainz
Photo: RacePictures
When asked how challenging energy management will be at tracks other than Barcelona and Bahrain, Sainz raised the possibility of adjusting regulations for “energy demanding” circuits.
Speaking to the media, including GPblog, Sainz said: “I think Melbourne is going to be more challenging for sure, but I cannot tell you how much because I haven’t run the calibrations in the simulator.
“My message to FOM and FIA is I think at the start of the year we need to stay a bit open-minded in case the regulations that we’ve come up with are maybe a bit exaggerated on the amount of harvesting or deployment that we have to do through a lap, which might make some circuits okay, like potentially here (Bahrain), even though I still think here is not fully okay with what we’re seeing so far.
“But tracks like Melbourne or potentially Jeddah, tracks that might be more energy demanding, yeah, I think we might need to adjust a bit the regulations.”
“Fair play it’s not easy because it’s such a big change that I don’t think anyone knew how to predict how much downforce, drag the car was going to have and what level of deployment the teams would come up with.
“But so far I would say I would only ask to stay open in case we need to fine-tune or adjust to make the category and make the show better. That’s my only message. I think we should stay flexible rather than committing to a certain level of energy management.”
Drivers will ‘matter less,’ says Alonso
Sainz’ fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso expressed similar concerns with regard to F1 2026’s energy rules, claiming that drivers will “matter less” as energy management is prioritised ahead of all-out racing.