Super
Clipping.
The F1 Phenomenon That Slows Cars Down At Full Throttle — And Why Everyone Hates It
What Is This?
Imagine you're watching an F1 car blast down a long straight. The driver's foot is buried flat on the throttle. You expect the car to go faster and faster. Instead — it slows down. Not because of a brake. Not because of a lift. The driver is fully on the gas. And the car is losing speed anyway.
That's super clipping. And in 2026, it happens on almost every circuit, multiple times per lap, to every car on the grid.
This is the most bizarre and controversial phenomenon in modern Formula 1 — and once you understand why it happens, you'll understand exactly why half the grid wants to quit.
Think of the battery like a phone battery. In 2026, half the car's power comes from that battery. When it runs low, the car has to "charge on the go" — so the computer takes energy that would normally spin the rear wheels and uses it to recharge instead. The driver is still pushing the pedal to the floor. But the car is charging, not going. It's like pressing the accelerator in your car and having the engine charge the battery instead of moving you forward. Full throttle. Going slower.
The 4 Ways F1 Cars Harvest Energy
Super clipping is just one of four ways the 2026 cars recharge their battery. Here's the full picture:
Regenerative Braking
Classic. Driver brakes hard for a corner, the motor runs backwards and generates electricity. Works great. Drivers love it. Been around since 2014.
Part-Throttle Overload
In sections where the driver doesn't need full power — say, a tight chicane — the system harvests some energy from the engine instead of using it all for speed.
Lift & Coast
Driver lifts off throttle early before a corner. The motor harvests at up to 350kW. Problem: it means wings go to high-drag mode, costing straightline speed.
Super Clipping
Driver is fully on the throttle — but the system harvests anyway at up to 250kW. Energy that would go to the rear wheels goes to the battery instead. Car slows down at full gas. Fans confused. Drivers furious.
See It For Yourself
The Numbers That Tell The Story
When super clipping is active, the speed loss is not subtle. Fernando Alonso clocked 50km/h slower through Turn 12 at Bahrain in the most extreme cases. At Suzuka's 130R — one of the most legendary high-speed corners in all of motorsport — cars arrived 20km/h slower than in 2025.
The Alonso Quote That Said Everything
The Aston Martin Chef Could Drive This Car
At Bahrain pre-season testing, Fernando Alonso — a two-time world champion and one of the greatest drivers ever — was watching data from Turn 12, where super clipping was active. The car was slowing down at full throttle. The skill of driving had been replaced by the computer making energy decisions. His verdict? The chef in the Aston Martin hospitality kitchen could drive the car through that corner, because the driver isn't actually doing anything.
The Grid Reacts
"Probably the worst cars ever made. The 50/50 split between ICE and electrical power doesn't work because you're decelerating so much before corners."
"It's really anti-driving. It doesn't feel natural to a racing driver. I'm committing 100% and I'm not enjoying what I'm doing."
"What I love about this sport is when you get to Q3 and you have maximum pressure to deliver your best. At the moment this is not possible. It's a f***ing joke."
"None of the fans are going to understand it. It's ridiculously complex."
"It's perhaps not the disaster I feared — but I still wouldn't call this F1."
Why Does This Even Happen?
To understand super clipping you have to understand what the 2026 regulations removed: the MGU-H — the Motor Generator Unit for Heat. This device harvested energy from the exhaust gases at high speed, keeping the battery topped up continuously. It was small, invisible to spectators, and absolutely essential for energy management.
The FIA removed it for 2026 because it was incredibly expensive and too complex for new manufacturers to develop. Audi and Cadillac couldn't be expected to build one from scratch. So it went. And with it went the primary source of high-speed energy harvesting.
Without the MGU-H, teams now rely almost entirely on braking to recharge. At tracks with lots of heavy braking zones — like Bahrain or Hungary — this is manageable. At tracks with long, fast straights and few slow corners — Melbourne, Suzuka, Monza — the battery bleeds dry faster than it can be replenished. That's when super clipping steps in as a desperate solution.
Can They Fix It?
Raise The Super Clipping Cap: 250kW → 350kW
McLaren's Andrea Stella proposed this during pre-season testing. Allowing 350kW of super clipping harvest means cars can charge faster at full throttle — reducing how often they need to do it. Doesn't eliminate the phenomenon, but makes it less dramatic and less frequent. FIA could implement quickly.
Reduce Electric Deployment In Race Trim
Drop the electrical power output from 350kW to 250kW in races. Cars would be less "energy-hungry" overall. Less need for aggressive harvesting. Downside: less power, lower top speeds. The FIA's Nikolas Tombazis has hinted this lever could be pulled if needed.
Bigger Battery Capacity
The most logical fix: just store more energy. A bigger battery means you have enough juice for a full push lap without needing to harvest mid-corner or mid-straight. But this requires a regulation change and a hardware redesign. Think 2027 at the earliest.
Bring Back The MGU-H
The device that was deleted specifically because it was too expensive and complex. Putting it back would solve the energy poverty problem overnight. Possibility: basically zero. Audi and Cadillac have already built without it. The FIA won't reverse this decision.
Super clipping is a symptom of a much bigger problem: the 2026 regulations asked for the most complex power unit in F1 history, then removed the one component that made energy management work at high speed. That's not a driver problem or a team problem. That's a regulation problem.
When Leclerc — one of the best qualifiers in the world — says he can't push to the limit in Q3 anymore because the computer is managing the battery, something has gone seriously wrong. When Alonso says a kitchen chef could drive the car through a high-speed corner, the sport has to listen.
The FIA and F1 are meeting in April specifically to discuss this. The first checkpoint is Miami. If changes aren't made, super clipping won't just be the most hated term in the paddock — it'll be the thing that defines 2026 as the season that nearly broke Formula 1.
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