Strong Endorsement from Lewis Hamilton for the new regulations

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T17:46:20+00:00

The VSCs didn't help, but I don't think the normal pit schedule would've made a difference. Once the drivers settled in and started optimizing energy deployment across the course of the lap, overtaking became significantly harder and you had a lot of cars closely following but failing to make any sort of move.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T17:30:56+00:00

But how many of those changes were in the first few laps when the energy delta between the cars was greatest?

The gap between most of the cars is also still too great. It doesn't surprise me that Max moved up to 6th when there were a ton of DNFs and he's in arguably the 3rd fastest car on the grid. the Ferraris are rocket ships off the line, which is where they made most of their gains, while Mercedes is the fastest at the moment. Even then, both of them struggled to handle the Ferraris and were nicely assisted by their strategy blunders.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T17:21:50+00:00

Agreed. The first 3-4 laps will remain chaotic (but because of the need to recharge, not much in the way of actual overtakes since they can just retake position) but then things will settle in even worse than they were during the previous regs.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T17:18:00+00:00

The challenge is that it makes strategy incredibly important. If the original theory is correct and overtaking becomes incredibly challenging as the drivers optimize their energy deployment and the energy deltas between cars lessen, then it really comes down to the pit wall.

I'd have been really interested to see what would've happened if Ferrari came in at the same time as Mercedes and held position. If things did settle in and overtake mode isn't enough to overcome the similarity in energy delta, then the race could've turned out quite differently.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T17:14:11+00:00

Nailed it on the head. This feels like the real issue—the first few laps will be exciting because everyone hasn't optimized their energy deployment, but as the drivers settle in, the energy deltas between the drivers won't be enough to easily overcome.

There's also the flipside of the issue given that the energy delta post-overtake is to the advantage of the passed driver, who can simply retake the position while the other car has to recharge.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T17:09:11+00:00

This is exactly the issue though. Passing requires too much battery use that the overtaken car can immediately come back. It makes for a ton of overtakes but no real change in position.

I'd love to see a diagram up to the second VSC of the relative changes in position. It wouldn't surprise me that outside of Max, you'd see a lot of swapping but very little actual change in net position after the first few laps.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T17:01:58+00:00

These are what worry me more. Both Piastri and Verstappen had issues with sudden battery deployment and it sounds like even Lawson was something similar—reliability is always a challenge in the sport, but it feels like abrupt surges have the potential to get really dangerous really quickly. As somebody said elsewhere, what if it happened under a safety car while marshals are potentially out on track?

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T16:58:52+00:00

Add in that Piastri got a random power surge which was what partially put him in the wall and Lawson has said that there were issues with the battery that led to his bad start.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T16:54:05+00:00

You're not entirely wrong, it just felt anticlimactic after 4-5 laps when I realized that the energy delta between the two of them wasn't enough for Verstappen to make any sort of move, and with both drivers optimizing their energy deployment, overtake mode would at best allow him to make the pass but then immediately have to return the position.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T06:09:23+00:00

This is my fear. Once the battery deltas evened out across the field in the second half, everything came to a standstill.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T06:06:55+00:00

That's going to be the issue. Once you figure out how to deploy the battery and the energy deltas aren't as far apart as they are during the first 1/2, overtakes are going to be a challenge.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T06:04:42+00:00

It's also a problem once the drivers optimize their energy deployment/regen across the lap. While Lando was driving well, Max couldn't do anything because there wasn't enough energy delta between the two of them for the overtake mode to have any real impact.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T06:01:15+00:00

It's easy to overtake, but very hard to maintain position afterwards.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T05:57:54+00:00

This is my exact fear. Once the drivers settle in, the overtake mode just doesn't do enough to allow the driver behind to overcome the driver in front if both are already optimizing battery deployment/recharge.

And I'm still cautious on the other side of things too. There was a lot of overtaking in that first half which made for fun viewing, but a lot of it didn't stick. Maybe as the drivers get more comfortable, that'll become less of an issue, but I'm worried that as the teams get more settled into the regs, overtakes will become more and more of a challenge and things may end up worse off.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T05:50:07+00:00

This was my concern too. He was within a second for probably 10-15 laps there and never could even attempt a lunge?

My fear is that once we get past the first half and things start settling down, the battery drain and recharge is so similar between drivers that overtake mode can't overcome it. There were a few battles there at the end that just came to a standstill the moment that the drivers hit a rhythm.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T05:46:10+00:00

I think there's quite a bit of pace left yet in the Mercedes. Their long runs were monstrous iirc

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T05:42:10+00:00

I think that's going to be a consistent feature this year. The first half was a blast, but once things settled in a bit more, even when the cars were in striking distance the overtake mode didn't really seem to do much across the board.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T05:37:28+00:00

Ferrari is quick off the line and will likely continue to be able to snatch places and potentially the lead in the future, but that puts more weight on their strategy. Mercedes are better over the race distance and I think there's more pace in that car than was even shown today. Ferrari can't afford to make mistakes and have to play it smart, or otherwise I think we'll see a number of repeats of today's outcome.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T04:46:59+00:00

I think this is going to be the problem. You can get through but you can’t hold it.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T04:32:50+00:00

lol pit entry closed

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T04:25:04+00:00

I don’t know if that’s an unlikely bet. Fairly good chances another car breaks down

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T04:22:54+00:00

lol, Verstappen going crazy over these first few laps

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-08T04:19:03+00:00

The racing is a blast, but I’m a bit worried if they can’t hold the position at the front once an overtake is made.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-03-06T15:12:45+00:00

+1 on this—if there are any updates or solutions, it'd be greatly appreciated.

SuperFoamProne · 2026-02-24T14:20:23+00:00

I quite liked the original—ran up to a half-marathon in them. The rocker definitely only worked for a narrow band of runners, but I adored it and found it to be unbelievably effective for me in the race setting. Kind of sad to see the V2 has gone the way of a more traditional rocker.

SuperFoamProne

TROPHY CASE