Drivers still affected by 2026 super-clipping
After last weekend’s power unit changes, drivers said the 2026 rules still leave them vulnerable to losing performance over a qualifying lap if they push too hard. Oscar Piastri said the lower harvest limit has reduced the amount of super-clipping, but not solved the wider problem: "In terms of lowering the harvest limit and meaning we have a little bit less super-clipping, that is better. But a lot of the other problems are still the same. You have to go quicker very carefully to make sure you don't just use a whole bunch of energy still." He said that issue hit him again at the end of his final Q3 lap on Saturday with "a massive super-clip when I didn't expect". Williams said the same sensitivity affected Alex Albon in qualifying, where a small difference in throttle use left him almost four tenths slower than Carlos Sainz. Team principal James Vowles said: "There is a lot we're asking the drivers to do to get everything prepared down the back straight, with a sequence of actions needed to get everything spot-on. When you do that, the performance differential can be extreme."
