IndyCar team Chip Ganassi Racing sent a not-so-subtle jab at Formula 1 over its new 2026 car engines, voicing criticism that many have leveled at the new regulations.
On X, the CGR team celebrated the Phoenix IndyCar race day with a video montage featuring their car.
However, they also ended up captioning the video with a statement clearly meant for F1.
“‘super-clipping,’ ‘downshifting on straights,’ ‘battery management,’ [yawning emoji] yeah, we don’t do that here. We race,” the post read.
CGR’s post is quite fair given that F1 drivers have not been receptive to the new cars either.
The launch of the new cars did not create excitement or deliver on years of waiting; rather, it was quite disappointing.
“We’ve come from the best cars ever made in Formula 1 and the nicest to drive to probably the worst,” McLaren’s Lando Norris said about the new cars.
“It sucks, but you have to live with it and just maximize what you get given. It’s certainly different. It’s certainly not like it was last year.”
The 2026 car is powered by a power unit that is half conventional energy, half electric energy, meaning cars are tasked with harvesting energy and being quite careful about how it is deployed.
As drivers get used to the new cars, a phenomenon called “super clipping” — highlighted by Chip Gassani — occurs when the car harvests energy while the driver is at full throttle.
Sadly, the new cars are what they are, and as teams and drivers get more used to the new regulations and figure out ways to make the most out of them.
Until then, however, the drivers and viewers will be unhappy.
“It’s clear that so far no one is happy,” Williams’ Carlos Sainz said. “The only thing we feel is there seems to be a lot of plasters on top of another to try and solve the fundamental issue… that I think this 50-50 hybrid system is giving us a lot of headaches.”
There is one person who is glad with where the cars are — Mercedes and driver George Russell, who is leading the pack with blistering speed in the first qualifying session of the season.
F1 is in a risky position with their car at the moment, as Mercedes could be lined up to dominate another era of new regulations entirely.
