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Oliver Bearman reveals painful reality of lost speed at Suzuka: a new F1 challenge

Harry Bright by Harry Bright
March 27, 2026
in Motorsports
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0

Oliver Bearman Sounds Alarm on 'Painful' Changes at Suzuka: The Death of 'Balls to the Wall' Racing!

In a shocking revelation, Formula 1 driver Oliver Bearman has candidly expressed his dismay over the dramatic shift in racing dynamics at the iconic Suzuka circuit, lamenting the loss of the exhilarating 'balls to the wall' corners that once defined high-speed racing. As the Japanese Grand Prix approaches, Bearman’s comments underscore a growing concern among drivers about the impact of energy management regulations that are fundamentally altering the essence of the sport.

Once revered for its challenging, flowing layout, Suzuka now finds itself at the mercy of strict energy recovery protocols that have turned some of its most thrilling sections into mere shadows of their former glory. Bearman, who drives for Haas, articulated a “painful” new reality where drivers are forced to “super clip” and “lift and coast,” drastically reducing their speeds through the high-stakes turns. This was starkly illustrated in recent footage showing Max Verstappen losing a staggering 50kph as he navigated the treacherous 130R corner, a clear indication of the toll these new rules are taking on driver performance.

In an effort to counteract the energy management challenges at Suzuka, the FIA has slashed the energy recharge limit during qualifying from 9.0 megajoules (MJ) to a mere 8.0 MJ. However, Bearman remains skeptical about whether this adjustment is sufficient. Speaking after the second practice session, he stated, “Yeah, it's tough, particularly the amount of clipping that we're doing. The step is probably a bit better with less energy recovery in qualifying, but still, you slow down a lot at the end of the straight, and that's always a painful feeling.”

The young driver lamented that many corners which were once thrilling 'balls to the wall' experiences have lost their excitement. “Some of those corners are not the case anymore, but that's what we're having to get used to,” he noted, capturing the frustration that runs deep within the paddock. Despite these challenges, Bearman acknowledged that there remains a skill involved in extracting the maximum performance from the car under these new constraints. “It's okay. It's a new reality, but it's still fun to drive on a track like this,” he said, revealing a glimmer of hope amidst the changes.

The first sector of Suzuka has been particularly hard hit by the new regulations, with drivers resorting to lift-and-coast techniques to conserve energy for the remainder of the lap. However, Bearman pointed out a silver lining, mentioning a 'special regulation' that allows drivers to utilize traditional power in certain sections, effectively bypassing some of the energy-saving requirements. “It's still nice,” he stated. “There's a bit of a special regulation for some sections of track where you're allowed to basically not deploy the MGU-K, so just working on the ICE [internal combustion engine], if you want. That means that, for us as drivers, things are a bit more normal — we don't have to do any weird stuff, which is nice.”

Despite the glimmer of normalcy, Bearman admitted that the overall power output is still less than what drivers have been accustomed to in the past. As the F1 community grapples with the implications of these regulations, one thing is clear: the thrill of racing at Suzuka is evolving into a painful compromise, leaving fans and drivers alike wondering if the heart of the sport is being lost forever.

Tags: formula-1-enHaasjapanese-grand-prixmax-verstappen-enOliver Bearman
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