Formula 1 Inaugurates the Era of the Clean Car

On Sunday the 8th of March, in Melbourne, Australia, the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship will begin. A Championship that has completely revolutionised its regulations — with single-seaters that will force the drivers to pilot in a new and demanding way, managing two distinct energy sources that together deliver around 1,000 horsepower. Why two different types combined? Because to the roughly 500 horsepower of the internal combustion engine — running on ecological fuel, a turbocharged six-cylinder of just 1,600 cc — we add 475 horsepower from an electric motor.

All of this would be perfect — were it not for the challenge, on every single lap, of having to recover electrical energy to recharge the onboard battery. It is no simple task: achieved not only through braking but through the use of the thermal engine during deceleration, or by keeping it at high revs to generate charge even when the power itself is not needed.