Here's how F1 is tweaking its hybrid systems to try to save the show
After spending the last couple of weeks discussing the problem, Formula 1's stakeholders have arrived at a number of solutions to the sport's hybrid energy problem. F1 started this year with all-new powertrains with much more powerful electric motors than ever before, but with batteries that can only send full power to those motors for a few seconds a lap. Once exhausted, the power halves until there's more charge in the battery. In qualifying this ruins the show, as the fastest lap is no longer a flat-out one; in the race it can create dangerous speed differentials with other cars that still have charge in their battery.
The new rules, which go into effect from the Miami Grand Prix (May 1-3), reduce the maximum energy you can recharge per lap. The battery holds 4 MJ, and in the past few races, each driver has been allowed to recharge and then use up to 8 MJ per lap to power the electric motor that supplements the turbocharged V6 engine.
Recharging is done through a mixture of regenerative braking and what the sport calls "super clipping," using the engine to power the electric motor as a generator to charge the battery. The problem is that every kW that gets super-clipped from the engine is a kW that isn't going to the rear wheels, creating speed differentials of up to 70 km/h (43 mph). And without an electric motor at the front axle, the cars can only harvest a few MJ via regenerative braking each lap.