Former Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert has strongly criticized the significant compromise introduced in the 2026 F1 technical regulations, particularly in the power unit energy recovery system.
Johnny Herbert pointed out that the cars lose speed at the end of long straights due to battery depletion. This phenomenon greatly diminishes the driving experience, removing opportunities for late braking and reducing the relevance of a driver’s skill in extracting lap time.
Johnny Herbert told RN365: “It hasn’t fully convinced me yet. Even in Japan, at 130R, entering the chicane. From a driving experience perspective, you’re losing feeling because that late braking is gone. Even Turn 9 and 10 in Australia disappeared, and it shouldn’t be like that.”
He emphasized that this aspect shouldn’t exist in its current form, as it removes a fundamental part of the pleasure and challenge of driving.
Proposed improvements
According to the British ex-driver, the most immediate solution involves adjusting the electric power delivery to make it smoother and more consistent. He admits that this could make the cars slightly slower but does not consider it a serious issue.
He added on the topic: “I know they will still intervene a bit on power delivery. This is probably the most important thing, that in the end they will manage to make it smoother in how power is delivered. It might be a bit slower, yes, but personally I don’t think it’s a big problem. Perhaps it’s something they can work on in the future to have a bit more battery capacity, for example.”
Johnny Herbert also suggested increasing battery capacity in the future, while acknowledging the compromises linked to weight and packaging.
The overtaking issue
Another aspect Herbert criticized concerns overtaking, which often depends more on strategic battery use than on pure driver skill. He noted contrasting opinions among fans: some appreciate the double overtakes (for example, at the Suzuka chicane and then the first corner), but he considers them not fully “real.”
On these “artificial” overtakes, he said: “Overtakes, some enjoy them, others don’t. I haven’t fully figured out if there’s more support or more opposition. Some like when they overtake entering the Suzuka chicane and then overtake again entering Turn 1. It’s not a real overtake from that point of view.”
The former driver compared the situation to DRS: without it, there would be no overtakes, and the new “overtake mode” tries to replicate that effect but does not work perfectly yet.
He explained: “It’s a very difficult thing to make happen. It’s like DRS: if you removed it, there wouldn’t be overtakes. At least it added something, and that’s what they’ve tried to do so far with the ‘overtake’ mode. But it’s not working completely yet. We just need a little extra to make it happen.”
Positive aspects highlighted
Johnny Herbert is not entirely negative and acknowledges the improvements brought by the new, lighter, and more agile cars. These allow for more frequent and genuine wheel-to-wheel battles, making races more spectacular and visually appealing compared to previous generations.
He said on this aspect: “The only thing that works well is that the cars really function. You can have a bit of side-by-side battle, which you probably couldn’t do with the previous cars. Visually, it looks better; the races seem able to have more wheel-to-wheel duels. It’s just a matter of making that power more consistent.”
Conclusions from Herbert’s perspective
The former driver emphasizes that this is not a completely negative picture. The 2026 cars allow for closer racing and intense battles, but work is still needed to make power delivery more consistent, reduce the excessive impact of energy recovery, and improve the overall driving and overtaking experience. According to him, the cars are close to perfection, but small targeted interventions are needed to eliminate these unwanted compromises.
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