SUZUKA CIRCUIT — Formula 1 drivers criticized the sport's new battery-based overtaking system during the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit, describing the back-and-forth passing it produces as artificial. The "overtake" and "boost" modes, introduced as part of engine regulations for the 2026 season, have resulted in battles lasting several laps, with cars passing and re-passing as the energy advantage shifts between them.

Formula 1 introduced engines with a 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power at the start of the 2026 season. The new regulations replaced the former DRS overtaking aid with two battery-dependent modes: overtake mode, which gives a driver within one second of the car ahead the ability to harvest 0.5 megajoules more electrical energy per lap, and boost mode, which allows a driver to override the car's programmed systems to have maximum electrical energy on demand.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen called the new cars "a joke" and likened them to the Mario Kart computer game. "Anyone who has enjoyed the back-and-forth overtakes now created by battery boosts doesn't understand what real racing is about," Verstappen said.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton compared the racing to karting. "If you go back to karting, it's the same thing. People going back and forth, back and forth - you can never break away," Hamilton said. "No-one has ever referred to go-karting as yo-yo racing. It's the best form of racing, and Formula 1 has not been the best form of racing in a long, long time."

Formula 1 driver Lando Norris acknowledged the audience response while highlighting drawbacks. "It looks great on TV and the viewers seem to love it. A lot of people seem to love it. Part of me is like, you know, that's a good thing," Norris said. "But some of that racing is because simply the guy who overtakes, because he has to use the battery, then has absolutely zero battery and you're just a complete passenger and you can't do anything. So, you're not exactly racing when you're in that situation as well as you were before."

At Suzuka's Esses section, teams were prohibited from deploying electrical energy in a designated zero kilowatt zone, forcing engines to operate at approximately half power. Cars also lost about 37 mph from the high-speed 130R kink until braking for the chicane because they had run out of electrical power.