The 2026 F1 power units split output roughly 50/50 between the internal combustion engine and the electric motor. That makes energy harvesting central to performance. Every team needs to recharge the battery during the lap, and how they do it has become one of the defining technical battles of the new era.
Super clipping is one method. It allows the car to harvest electrical energy while the driver stays at full throttle, typically at the end of a straight or through a fast corner. The MGU-K, which normally sends power to the rear wheels, switches into reverse and feeds energy back into the battery instead.
The car stays flat out. But it slows down.
That is the trade-off at the heart of super clipping, and it is why the concept has generated so much discussion since the 2026 cars first ran.
Why do F1 cars slow down on straights in 2026?
Under previous regulations, an F1 car would accelerate all the way down a straight and reach peak speed near the braking zone. In 2026, the speed trace looks different. Cars often hit their maximum velocity partway down the straight, then gradually lose speed before the corner.
This happens because the MGU-K begins harvesting energy from the drivetrain while the driver is still on full throttle. Power that would normally reach the rear wheels is diverted to the battery. The engine keeps running. The driver keeps the throttle pinned. But net power at the wheels drops, and the car decelerates.
During pre-season testing in Bahrain, the effect was stark. Top speeds through Turn 12, a fast right-hander, dropped by around 30km/h when cars were super clipping compared to when they were not.
How does super clipping work with active aero?
This is where super clipping gets interesting, and why teams have favoured it over simpler alternatives.
Active aero in straight mode
The 2026 cars use active aerodynamics. On straights, the front and rear wings open to reduce drag. This is straight mode. In corners, or when the driver lifts off the throttle, the wings close into corner mode to provide downforce.
The switch between modes is tied to driver inputs. When the driver lifts off the throttle, the car goes into corner mode. When the driver is at full throttle, it stays in straight mode.
Why this matters for energy harvesting
Super clipping happens at full throttle. That means the active aero stays open and drag remains low. The car loses speed because less power reaches the wheels, but aerodynamically it is still in its most efficient configuration.
Lift and coast, the other main harvesting method, requires the driver to come off the throttle. That triggers corner mode. The wings close, drag increases, and the car loses even more speed than the energy diversion alone would cause.
What is the difference between super clipping and lift and coast?
Both are ways to recharge the battery during a lap. The differences are in how they work and what they cost.
Super clipping
The driver stays on full throttle. The MGU-K harvests energy from the drivetrain. Active aero remains in straight mode. The car slows gradually but keeps low drag.
Lift and coast
The driver lifts off the throttle early before a braking zone and lets the car coast. The MGU-K harvests energy at a higher rate. But the active aero switches to corner mode, increasing drag significantly.
Lift and coast was originally the more powerful option because it could recover energy at up to 350kW, while super clipping was capped at 250kW. That gap made lift and coast necessary on energy-poor circuits despite its aerodynamic penalty.
It also raised safety concerns. Andrea Stella, McLaren's team principal, was vocal about the risks of cars suddenly decelerating on straights when drivers lifted off, particularly with another car running close behind.
Why was the super clipping limit increased to 350kW?
After the opening races of 2026, the FIA, teams, and power unit manufacturers agreed to a package of mid-season rule changes. One of the headline adjustments was raising the super clipping limit from 250kW to 350kW.
The logic is straightforward. At 350kW, super clipping matches the harvest rate of lift and coast. Teams no longer need to ask drivers to lift off on straights to hit their energy targets. The battery charges faster during each super clipping phase, which also means the car spends less time in the harvesting state.
The change was introduced alongside a reduction in the maximum energy that can be harvested per lap, from 8MJ to 7MJ. Together, the two adjustments are designed to cut the total time spent super clipping to roughly two to four seconds per lap, down from significantly longer periods at some circuits early in the season.
Does super clipping still slow the car down?
Yes. At 350kW the harvest is more aggressive, so the deceleration during a super clip phase is actually sharper than before. But because the battery fills faster, it happens for a shorter period. The net effect should be less disruption to lap times and a more conventional speed trace on the straights.
What circuits are most affected by super clipping?
Not all tracks are equal when it comes to energy management.
Energy-rich circuits
Tracks with heavy braking zones and slow corners, like Bahrain, allow the MGU-K to recover plenty of energy under braking alone. Super clipping is less of a factor here because the battery fills up through normal driving.
Energy-poor circuits
Tracks with fewer heavy braking zones, like Melbourne, Jeddah, and Suzuka, are where super clipping becomes essential. There simply is not enough braking energy available to keep the battery charged, so teams rely on harvesting at full throttle to make up the difference.
The FIA now has the ability to set lower energy limits at up to 12 races per season, giving it a lever to reduce the impact of super clipping at the circuits where it would otherwise dominate.
Will super clipping change how F1 races are won?
Energy efficiency has always mattered in the hybrid era, but the 2026 regulations have made it a genuine performance differentiator. How well a team manages super clipping, when to deploy it, how much to harvest, and how to minimise the lap time cost, is part of the competitive picture now.
Teams with more efficient power units can spend less time harvesting and more time deploying, which translates directly to pace. That is one reason the rule changes around super clipping were politically sensitive. Raising the limit to 350kW helps less efficient power units close the gap, which not every manufacturer welcomed.
Super clipping is not going away. It is a structural feature of how the 2026 power units work. How teams optimise around it will be one of the quieter but more important storylines of this regulation cycle.
