Lewis Hamilton has expressed his frustration with the growing dependency of Formula 1 on energy management systems and software, arguing that this trend penalizes drivers instead of rewarding their pure speed.
In a conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson during the Miami Grand Prix weekend, the seven-time world champion highlighted the difficulties posed by the current technical regulations of the competition. ‘It’s very hard for fans to understand it completely, and for us too,’ pointed out the Ferrari driver.
Hamilton explained that the goal when driving a Formula 1 car is to reach the limit, and that currently, with battery limitations, drivers encounter contradictory scenarios. ‘We have less charge this year because they removed the MGU-H we had last year, which is too confusing,’ he said.
The British driver shared his experience, emphasizing that in a recent lap he lost three-tenths of a second due to software malfunction. ‘It took me a while to realize until I talked to my engineers, who assured me that I wasn’t slow, but that the software wasn’t working properly,’ he added.
After the first nine races of the 2026 season, Hamilton is in third place in the drivers’ championship, behind leader Kimi Antonelli and his Mercedes teammate George Russell.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
