Formula 1’s attempt to iron out the most awkward side-effect of the current power unit rules rolls on in Montreal, where the FIA has dialled the maximum harvestable energy for qualifying down to a season-low 6.0MJ.
It’s another venue-specific tweak in a season where the governing body has been unusually proactive in reshaping how a lap is built, particularly on Saturdays. The Canadian Grand Prix will run the 6.0MJ cap across qualifying and Sprint Qualifying, with higher limits retained once racing begins: 8.0MJ for the Sprint and Grand Prix, and 8.5MJ when Overtake Mode is in play.
The broad aim is simple enough: make qualifying feel like qualifying again. The more energy the system is allowed to harvest, the more drivers can find themselves managing the lap to satisfy the power unit rather than the other way around — extra lift-and-coast, odd approaches to braking zones, and the kind of “unnatural” preparation that doesn’t marry with the idea of a flat-out one-lap effort. By pulling the cap down, the FIA is effectively shifting the emphasis back towards the internal combustion engine for the single-lap peak, sacrificing a sliver of outright laptime in exchange for cleaner, more intuitive driving.
Canada is a particularly interesting test case because the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve isn’t a typical “stop-start” track in the way people lazily describe it. Yes, it has the big braking events — the Turn 10 hairpin and the final chicane especially — but the layout also strings key sections together in a way that affects how easily you can recover energy without compromising the lap.
From the hairpin, for example, you’ve essentially got one meaningful braking zone before the lap cycles through the early sector. That first sector does include heavy braking that can generate efficient recovery, which is part of why the FIA’s modelling has landed at 6.0MJ as workable. The point isn’t to starve the cars of electrical deployment; it’s to stop the drivers having to “manufacture” harvesting beyond what the circuit naturally provides.
It’s worth noting just how far that number has moved around already in 2026. Australia ran a 7.0MJ limit in qualifying sessions, Miami was at 8.0MJ, and now Montreal becomes the lowest yet at 6.0MJ. The flexibility itself is the story: between Japan and Miami, the FIA introduced regulation changes allowing officials to lower the permitted maximum energy to 7.0MJ at certain events, and Canada is clearly the next step in that direction.
Ask drivers what it changes, though, and you get the sort of split you’d expect between theory and feel.
Liam Lawson was candid about the uncertainty and, crucially, about how track evolution can make any neat pre-weekend expectation look silly by Saturday.
“It’s hard to know, honestly,” Lawson said. “The thing is, as well, through the weekend, it changes, so we start tomorrow in P1, and that’s different from where we run in qualifying on Saturday, as the grip comes up and the track changes.
“Honestly, it’s something I think it’s definitely not going to be solved this weekend from a driver’s side of things. I think we’re gonna still be potentially a little bit frustrated while driving the cars in quali, but it’s something that we’re obviously changing every weekend and trying to improve, and, until we drive it on track, I think then we’ll know for sure.”
That frustration is revealing. The FIA can tune a cap, but it can’t instantly erase the sensation drivers get when deployment falls away in the wrong place — that moment where the car feels like it’s “waiting” rather than surging, and where you’re more conscious of the power unit algorithm than the corner you’re attacking.
Oliver Bearman, speaking from a more systems-led point of view, suggested the practical effect on a driver’s approach may be limited — even if the sensation is still there.
“Yeah, it’s going to be complicated. At the end, you’re just driving, and the software takes care of it for you,” he said. “There’s nothing really you need to do, but the same rules apply, that you need to drive the car in a certain way and attack the traction zones in a certain way, and that’s just kind of the norm now for this era.
“The thing is, in qualifying, you have less energy than you do in the race, but you also discharge the battery fully, so you finish the lap with 0 per cent of battery, so it’s much less, but you deploy actually more across a quali lap than you would in a race lap.”
Bearman also pointed to Suzuka as an earlier moment this season where the deployment characteristics were more noticeable. Not necessarily a lap-killer, but enough to change the texture of the run: “a bit more time spent at zero kilowatts,” as he put it — which, in driver terms, is just another way of saying it feels sluggish at exactly the moment you want the car to feel alive.
From Mercedes, George Russell sounded notably relaxed about the Canada change, leaning on the team’s simulation work rather than gut feel.
“I don’t think it will affect a lot, to be honest,” Russell said. “I think it’s the right decision. Seeing the simulations, it doesn’t look like we’re losing speed at the end of the straights.
“There shouldn’t be any quirks in terms of lifting, coasting during the lap. So definitely the right direction, and I think it should be more straightforward here.”
That last line matters: “more straightforward here.” Montreal’s rhythm — short bursts, hard stops, repeat — gives the FIA a friendlier environment to try a lower cap without accidentally creating bizarre new compromise points. If this works cleanly, it strengthens the argument for pushing harder at other circuits where “qualifying management” has crept into the driver’s mental checklist.
And that’s the real subtext this weekend. The FIA isn’t chasing novelty. It’s trying to reduce the extent to which a Saturday lap is dictated by energy arithmetic rather than bravery and precision. Canada’s 6.0MJ limit is another nudge in that direction — and if the paddock comes away from Montreal talking about slipstreaming and kerbs instead of lift points and harvest maps, the FIA will consider it a win.
