Lewis Hamilton believes a common 2026 F1 instruction is nothing “weird” but just “different.”
Lewis Hamilton has stated that the lift and coast instruction F1 drivers are encountering in 2026 is not strange, but rather different compared to previous years. Among techniques like super-clipping, lift and coast, or LiCo, has become crucial for energy harvesting in corners, with a more significant impact in 2026 due to the altered power output ratio. While the engine balance used to be around 80-20 between the internal combustion engine and batteries, it is now evenly split at 50-50 this season. Despite facing criticism, Hamilton, a seven-time champion, defends that receiving instructions like lift and coast from the pit-wall is not odd, just that the approach behind it has evolved. He highlights that while the lift and coast method has existed in the past mainly to conserve fuel or tires, its current purpose is to optimize energy management throughout a lap, making it crucial to adapt from track to track. Consequently, he emphasizes that it’s not about being strange but differing – particularly in scenarios like qualifying laps, where maintaining power until the braking point may not be the best strategy anymore.
