F1 made wholesale changes to its regulations this year – including a move to 50-50 power delivery between combustion and electric energy.
The regulations have proved polarising, with fans and drivers bemused by the sudden momentum swings creating what some view as artificial racing.
A variety of rule changes were agreed to before the Miami Grand Prix between the FIA, FOM, teams and its engine suppliers.
For qualifying, the maximum permitted recharge was reduced from eight megajoules to seven megajoules in a bid to reduce excessive harvesting and promote more consistent flat-out driving.
For racing, the maximum power available during boost mode was capped at 150kW, or the car’s current power level at activation if higher.
MGU-K deployment was limited to 250kW in some parts of the lap while key acceleration zones were maintained at 350kW.
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Those changes were made with the primary intent to limit sudden swings in performance differential between cars and reduce excessive closing speeds.
Speaking after finishing third in the Miami Grand Prix, Piastri said those improvements had been noticeable but were not enough.
“I think reducing the harvest limit in qualifying has helped a bit. It’s not fixed the problem or all the problems, but it’s helping with one,” said Piastri.
“The races are basically exactly the same, and I think today was my first proper experience of overtaking people and then having to defend and stuff like that.”
Closing speed from one car to the next has been a hot topic in the wake of Oliver Bearman’s enormous crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Haas driver was forced to swerve off the track to avoid the slowing Alpine of Franco Colapinto, which speared the young Brit into a wall at high speed.
Piastri explained that excessive closing speeds while attacking and defending remain an issue in-race, and that is a feeling shared by many drivers.
“It’s pretty crazy, to be honest,” he said.
“At one point George [Russell] was one second behind me and managed to overtake me by the end of that straight.
“It’s just a bit random. The closing speeds are huge and trying to anticipate that as the defending driver is incredibly tough to do.
“Obviously for the overtaking driver, I wasn’t that pleased with one of the moves that George did, but I kind of found myself almost doing the same move about five laps later, just because the closing speed is enormous.
“So from that side of things, not much has really changed.
“I think the collaboration again from the FIA and F1 has been good, but there are only so many things you can change with the hardware we have.
“So some changes in the future are still needed for sure. How quickly we can do it is the big question.”
Miami race winner Kimi Antonelli echoed that sentiment. He was embroiled in a battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the opening stanza of the race that saw them trade places several times over.
“Races, the closing speed, as I said, is massive,” said the Mercedes driver.
“And you also need to trust the guy who is defending because also with this active aero, the car is pretty lazy when you want to change direction, so you need to think in advance.
“You need to trust as well the driver who is defending. But it was a small step in the right direction and let’s see what’s going to happen next.”
F1 champion Lando Norris said the changes did not go far enough but conceded it would be years before any meaningful changes were possible.
“It’s a small step in the right direction, but it’s not to the level that Formula 1 should still be at yet,” said Norris.
“I think we said yesterday still in qualifying, if you go flat out everywhere and you try pushing like you were in previous years, you still just get penalised for it.
“You still can’t be flat out everywhere. It’s not about being on as early on throttle everywhere.
“You should never get penalised for that kind of thing and you still do. So honestly, I don’t really think you can fix that. You just have to get rid of the battery.
“So hopefully in a few years, that’s the case.”
F1 will get its next opportunity to witness the revised regulations in action at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on May 23-25.
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