Formula 1 may be charging toward its most electrified future yet, but Sky F1's Martin Brundle fears something elemental could be left on the starting grid: the raw, elbows-out racing that once defined the sport’s soul.
As the paddock digests its first meaningful glimpse of the 2026-spec machinery during pre-season running in Barcelona, the former driver-turned-broadcaster has sounded a note of caution.
The new generation of cars, armed with heavily energy-dependent power units and dramatically increased electrical output, promise technological sophistication – but perhaps at the cost of instinctive, wheel-to-wheel combat.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1’s testing coverage, Brundle dissected what he saw not just as an engineering evolution, but a philosophical shift in how drivers will be forced to compete once the lights go out in Melbourne.
From Attack Mode to Energy Mode
The early laps in Barcelona offered more than just aerodynamic silhouettes and lap times; they hinted at a future where drivers could spend as much mental bandwidth monitoring energy deployment as they do hunting overtakes.
According to Brundle, the growing emphasis on harvesting and releasing battery power risks turning races into strategic electricity management exercises rather than pure racing duels.
When asked whether this new reality could dull the enjoyment for drivers, the former Grand Prix driver’s answer was blunt and tinged with resignation.
“Well, I think the toothpaste is long out of the tube on that one, to be honest," Brundle admitted as he compared this to the use of KERS from 2009.
"That's the way it is in Formula 1 now with electronics - as it is with road cars - and the complex aerodynamics and simulators and what have you. So that's what we have.”
Brundle’s words paint a picture of inevitability rather than outrage. In his view, Formula 1 did not arrive at this moment overnight – it has been inching toward it for decades, layering electronics, simulation tools, and hybrid systems onto the once-simpler art of driving fast.
Yet he is quick to point out that greatness has always found a way to thrive, no matter the machinery.
“The best drivers will make the best use of the tools. And I'll tell you something: Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, bless them both, would love that all of these tools available to them to make something out of them. And they always did.
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“Whether it was active or semi-automatic 'boxes or the setup of the cars. They always made the best of whatever tools - they were pretty rudimentary back then.
“But as a racing driver, whatever you're driving, wherever, you find the limit of the grip and you drive to it, or you drive just over it if you can. And it's a series of lefts and rights and straights, and that's what you do.”
The message is clear: talent adapts. Legends would still be legends. But the canvas on which that talent is expressed is changing – and perhaps becoming less visceral for spectators yearning for side-by-side slugfests.
Data, Batteries, and the Vanishing “Raw” Edge
If the racing is becoming more cerebral, Brundle believes the audience must be brought along for the ride.
With energy recovery and deployment poised to play a decisive role in overtaking opportunities, transparency could be the difference between confusion and appreciation.
"I think it'll be super important for the teams in Formula 1 to give us accurate real-time data on the batteries so that we understand, if there's overtakes, why? If some driver's been clever through a series of bends and giving himself some more power,” Brundle reasoned.
In other words, the drama may still exist – it will simply be hidden beneath layers of software and battery percentages unless properly revealed. The spectacle could shift from visible bravery to invisible calculation, from late braking lunges to meticulously timed energy surges.
Returning to the heart of the issue, Brundle did not sugarcoat his belief that Formula 1 has already crossed a threshold it cannot uncross.
"Is it as raw as literally elbows out, Senna versus Mansell type stuff? No, it's not. But as I say, the toothpaste is out of the tube on that one and we're not going to get it back in. So, we've got to make the best of what we've got,” he said.
His analogy is telling. The sport’s direction is not merely a fork in the road; it is a one-way street. The thunder of combustion remains, but it is increasingly accompanied – and sometimes governed – by the silent arithmetic of electrons.
For engineers, strategists, and the next generation of drivers raised in a digital racing ecosystem, this new era could represent Formula 1 at its most intellectually demanding.
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