The third race of the Formula 1 2026 season is set to take place on Sunday, March 29 at the Suzuka Circuit, with qualifying scheduled for Saturday. However, ahead of the race weekend getting underway, the sport’s governing body, the FIA, announced a change to the qualifying rules that aims to encourage the drivers to push harder.
According to the upgrade in rules for this upcoming Saturday, the teams with maximum energy will be allowed to draw from their hybrid power units during Saturday’s grid-deciding session will be reduced to 8 megajoules (MJ) from 9 MJ, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement.
The change, agreed following unanimous support of the sport’s power unit manufacturers, Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull-Ford, Audi and Honda, will “ensure that the intended balance between energy deployment and driver performance is maintained,” the statement said.
🚨 #F1 manufacturers and the FIA have agreed a last-minute rule change to qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix in a bid to avoid energy management headaches.
The single lap recharge limit – which was originally going to be 9MJ for Suzuka – will be dropped to 8MJ.
This should… pic.twitter.com/CXuSHOrQi5
— Jon Noble (@NobleF1) March 25, 2026
Formula 1 has introduced sweeping new rules this year, with the hybrid power units in the cars now split near 50-50 between electric and combustion power. That has led to drivers having to tactically “lift and coast” on the power unit as the combustion engine recharges the battery. The new rules have spiced up the wheel-to-wheel action in the first two races.
Critics, though, have said it has taken some of the thrill away from the usually flat-out qualifying laps by turning them into a test of battery management rather than driver skill and courage. The tweak to the rules means drivers will be able to push more and focus less on recovering energy.
“This adjustment reflects feedback from drivers and teams, who have emphasised the importance of maintaining qualifying as a performance challenge,” said the FIA statement. There are further discussions around the new rules scheduled in the coming weeks, it said.
What Did The Drivers Say About New Rules at Japanese Grand Prix 2026?
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc admitted this tweak won’t be a game changer in teams’ performance. “I think it will be pretty similar, apart from for the driver where maybe there’s a little bit less lift and coast, which is I think a good thing,” he said as reported by SKY Sports.
On the other hand, the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said, “They have changed it coming into the weekend. When we were on the simulator, you were having to do a tonne of lift and coast, which is really, really not enjoyable to do, particularly for a qualifying lap.”
Meanwhile, the defending champion Lando Norris refused to give an opinion before actually experiencing it. “It’s different. I need to go out and drive with it first. I think it will eliminate some things and it will shift around some other bits,” he said.
“I think the thing is you also have tracks where it will be better. Some tracks it will work and be a much better thing, some tracks it won’t change too much,” Norris added.
Meanwhile, Mercedes driver George Russell agreed with Leclerc’s remarks, downplaying the impact of the change. “It’s just a small detail. It doesn’t change anything,” said Russell.
Formula One leaders Mercedes go into Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix chasing a season-opening hat-trick of one-two wins, with Kimi Antonelli fired up after a maiden victory and George Russell seeking to cement his status as title favourite.
The pair have won one Sunday race each but Russell, winner of the season-opener in Australia and the Saturday sprint in China, leads his Chinese Grand Prix-winning teammate by four points.
Mercedes last kicked off with a hat-trick of wins in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic-hit season in which Austria’s Red Bull Ring hosted the first two races. The last time they started with three one-two finishes was in 2019.
Having made a similarly dominant start to the sport’s new era this season, including locking out the front row in every qualifying session, they could tick off both milestones on Sunday.
“We have made a positive start to the season but it is only that,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff ahead of the race. “We know that the moment you think you’ve got this sport figured out, you are usually proven wrong.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
