‘No overtaking’ in Mexico: Lewis Hamilton calls on the FIA to take action

Lewis Hamilton describes it as the worst engine profile setting in Formula 1 history; Lando Norris also calls for consequences following the Mexican Grand Prix

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton and McLaren driver Lando Norris have criticised the current Formula 1 powertrain settings following the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix. The criticism stems from a specific provision in the 2026 Formula 1 powertrain regulations: The FIA can limit the electrical power output of the hybrid engines depending on speed.

In Mexico, the electric motor’s power was gradually reduced at high speeds until no electrical assistance was available. This limited the top speeds that could be achieved, but also made overtaking manoeuvres more difficult: Even whilst drafting, the chasing drivers were unable to fully capitalise on their speed advantage.

It was therefore clear to Hamilton that his race was ‘over’ after Max Verstappen had overtaken him in the early stages of the race. Because: ‘You can’t overtake here.’

Hamilton identifies “nonsensical restrictions” in Formula 1

Hamilton said: “The FIA needs to look into this, because it’s simply pretty bad. At the end of the straight, we hit this limit that prevents you from exceeding a certain speed. That’s why everyone just drives one behind the other. It really is the daftest thing ever. “

Under these conditions, according to Hamilton, there’s no chance of an attack; even the slipstream effect is lost. “You should be allowed to exceed this limit to have any chance of overtaking at all,” said Hamilton. “The engine could go faster, but there are simply these nonsensical restrictions.”

Hamilton took his criticism a step further, describing the current rules as “probably the worst engine profile setting there’s ever been in Formula 1”. He said it results in “not exactly good racing” and prevents close battles.

Norris says: Formula 1 has to be faster than a motorbike

Norris took a similar view. He, too, described the limit as the “main problem with overtaking” in Mexico. “It doesn’t matter if you come out of the corner two tenths behind another driver: you simply hit the limit, and the other driver has the same limit. Then there’s nothing you can do,” explained Norris.

His conclusion: “It sort of ruins the racing. And that’s something they need to improve for next season. Especially when motorbikes [in der MotoGP] reach 370 km/h, even though you don’t even have a seatbelt or anything like that. We should easily be able to go faster than a motorbike.”

According to Norris, the solution is obvious: “You simply have to raise the speed limit. It’s as simple as that.” Nothing else will change under the slightly amended 2027 Formula 1 power unit regulations: “We’ll still reach the same top speeds when we use straight-line mode, and next year we’ll have the same power,” said Norris.

Or does the circuit in Mexico need to be redesigned?

So do the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and Formula 1 need to take completely different measures? Hamilton said: “Perhaps they could do something to the circuit to give us some better racing. I don’t know if they need to change the final corner because it’s so fast. And when everyone uses straight-line mode, it takes away any chance of overtaking.”