F1 have quietly removed controversial new rule that drivers and team bosses hated

Formula 1 chiefs have quietly removed an unpopular new rule from their 2026 regulations, it has been reported.

The opening part of the F1 season has been dominated by the heavily updated regulations, which were introduced to promote closer racing, increase overtaking opportunities, and work towards the sport's goal of 100 per cent sustainable fuels.

While the racing has been more intense and cars have been able to follow each other more closely, there has been controversy over the new battery system, where drivers harvest the battery through corners and then deploy it on straights using 'overtake mode' - a setting triggered by the new active front and rear wing active aerodynamic system.

That has led to a phenomenon known as 'super clipping', where the battery empties towards the end of long straights and is no longer able to power the rear wheels, leading to gradual deceleration.

The FIA are attempting to cut out some of the team's concerns by introducing a series of small tweaks to the regulations in time for the Miami Grand Prix, which takes place this weekend following a five-week break.

Read more: FIA announce major change to Miami GP weekend as new regulations confirmed

FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis has described the changes as 'an evolution, not a revolution'.

They include reducing the car's recharge limit from 8MJ to 7MJ to make them slower but, in turn, increasing the amount that drivers can push during qualifying laps.

The key regulation the FIA are tweaking in Miami - and why

Another small tweak is to the 'power limited' mode, which is activated when drivers register above 98 per cent of throttle input on the exit of corners for one second.

The idea behind the concept is to prevent excess energy being wasted on areas of the circuit where it is not necessarily, but its design meant that if a driver lifted off the throttle immediately activating the process, it would reset the system and mean that the process would need to be restarted again.

All that, in turn, caused a further increase in energy deployment for drivers when the issue was encountered, and it cost Charles Leclerc on his final qualifying lap in China when he ran out of energy on the main straight.

Charles Leclerc suffered battery-related issues in Chinese GP qualifying (Image: Getty)

Leclerc fumed over his Ferrari's team radio: "What the hell is happening? What. The. Hell. Is. Happening? I lost like four tenths on the back straight."

McLaren's Oscar Piastri has also questioned the regulation, while his team have also backed making changes.

That is what the FIA are attempting to do, according to The Race, with drivers now placed into power limited mode automatically after they reach the 98 per cent threshold.

That should theoretically mean that, if drivers lift off unexpectedly, it will no longer reset the process and drivers can focus on deploying their battery where it is needed at the end of the lap without worrying about losing power.

Whether that comes to pass is something that remains to be seen, with sprint qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix - which gets underway on Friday at 4:30pm local time/9:30pm BST - set to be the first time the new system will be in action.