‘Maintaining qualifying as a performance challenge’, FIA adjust qualifying rules for Japanese GP

Formula 1’s governing body the FIA have announced a tweak to the energy deployment rules for qualifying ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, with the intention of “maintaining qualifying as a performance challenge”.

The maximum permitted recharge allowed by the drivers during qualifying has been reduced to 8.0 Megajoules, from 9.0 Megajoules with the intention to prevent the sensation of super clipping.

“Following discussions between the FIA, F1 teams and power unit manufacturers, a minor adjustment to the energy management parameters for qualifying at the Japanese GP has been agreed with the unanimous support of all power unit manufacturers,” read the FIA statement.

“To ensure that the intended balance between energy deployment and driver performance is maintained, the maximum permitted energy recharge for qualifying this weekend has been reduced from 9.0 MJ to 8.0 MJ.

“This adjustment reflects feedback from drivers and teams, who have emphasised the importance of maintaining qualifying as a performance challenge.

“The FIA notes that the first events under the 2026 regulations have been operationally successful, and this targeted refinement is part of the normal process of optimisation as the new regulatory framework is further validated in real-world conditions.

“The FIA, together with F1 teams and power unit manufacturers, continues to embrace evolutions to energy management, with further discussions scheduled in the coming weeks.”

The hope with this adjustment is that drivers will be able to extract more performance out of their cars in qualifying, given the all-new power-units so far in 2026 have relied on energy management even during qualifying where they should be leaving nothing on the table.

With the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, effectively giving the championship a month off in April, the thought of “further discussions” around evolving the current energy management situation couldn’t come at a better time.

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Written by

Jawad Yaqub

An eCommerce Specialist by day and reporting on F1 by night. Jawad is passionate about motorsport, having provided accredited F1 coverage for more than a decade and is a member of the AIPS (International Sports Press Association). Live blogging (almost) every grand prix too since 2014, as well as articles on the Supercars Championship. Also keen on sustainability, photography, collecting vinyl, (trying to) expertly barbeque and learning to Dad.

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