Monza's high-speed 5.5km layout has always been seen as the ultimate test of speed and horsepower in Formula 1, with a throwback layout that hasn't undergone too many dramatic changes over the last 50 years. In 2026, though? It's complicated. Long straights and high-speed circuits have had a difficult relationship with F1's energy-starved power unit regulations.

On the back of tricky weekends at the likes of Silverstone and Spa, drivers are wary Monza will be equally affected by the lack of energy on offer."Down the straights with the [drag] reduction system, it's still quick, but then we lose this power," Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton said. "We arrive maybe 20km/h or 30km/h slower than we have in the past at the end going into the corners, which probably takes some getting used to."It was always amazing to arrive here and just hear the engine screaming at the end of the straight, and pulling just up to the braking zone. That won't be the case this weekend."But stating that Monza will be very similar to the likes of Silverstone or Spa is only true to a certain extent. All are circuits with a high on-throttle percentage, but unlike its classic peers Monza has fewer high-speed corners which can be compromised by battery management games, and bigger braking zones.

While there may be earlier downshifting at the end of some of the straights, it is expected to be less painful optically as there won't be a Stowe or Pouhon type of corner that can get its driving challenge ruined by dramatic harvesting. Monza 2025 race start Photo by: Kym Illman / Getty Images What it doesn't mean is that Monza will be an easy weekend for energy management. The FIA has reduced the harvesting limit to 5MJ per lap, by far the lowest of the calendar so far, which should help mitigate issues.

Because there is less energy to spend anyway, it is expected there will be less "super clipping" – drivers harvesting the battery against the engine at full throttle, which leads to often dangerous speed discrepancies. Instead, there simply won't be much energy to play with anyway, and cars are expected to be slower on the straights."I've driven in the simulator and it's not as bad as I expected," said championship leader Kimi Antonelli. "There's not so much super clip, because they have changed a little bit the harvest limit compared to other races. There will be a lot more flattening in terms of speed, but actually very little deceleration, so that's a positive.

It's going to be much better than what we all anticipated."Haas' Esteban Ocon concurred: "We are still not going to have to do lift-and-coast and these kinds of things by reducing that [harvest limit]. So, that's good."But Alpine's Franco Colapinto was still expecting this weekend to showcase the worst parts of these regulations. "It's true that the harvest limit is very low, so the super clip is little, because you cannot harvest so the super clip is not as useful anymore," said the Argentinian. "Personally, I think it's going to be a tricky race. It's another track that shows our weaknesses as Formula 1."Franco Colapinto, Alpine Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images None were as glum as Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad, though, who was worried this weekend would be a "sad" experience."It was worse than expected," he reported, diverging from his peers. "There's no speed drop-off actually.

There's just not much battery, so we don't actually [lose speed] on the straights, we don't use any. It's quite slow."I think it is a bit sad, and we'll see what it's like on track, but the way I had to drive on the sim, there's things that we've already done a little bit which have been a little bit unnatural, but you've kind of got away with it, whereas here it's extreme, and it's not Monza. There'll be no 350km/h.

So if you have any bets on breaking any speed trap records, don't, because it's not very fast."Monza's drastic energy limitations have the consequence that slipstreaming will be even more crucial...