Baku City Circuit, which hosts this Saturday's race, is the toughest test yet for the 2026 power units. With electrical power making up around half the total and the MGU-H that recovered exhaust energy gone, the new units will be separated by how well they save battery energy along the seafront full-throttle section of more than 1km, and where they recharge it. Here is what this year's rules changed and how that plays out in Baku.
The 2026 power unit: what changed
According to F1.com's explainer, the 1.6-litre V6 turbo combustion engine has been kept with modest revisions, while the electrical share has risen from around 20% to around 50%. Output from the MGU-K, which drives the rear wheels, has nearly tripled from 120kW to 350kW. The MGU-H, which recovered energy from exhaust heat, has been dropped entirely: it was effective, but complex, and road-car manufacturers had not adopted it. Honda's explainer gives more figures. Recoverable energy per lap has nearly doubled to around 8.5MJ, and because of the fuel energy-flow limit, combustion-engine output has come down to around 400kW, so the engine and the electric motor contribute almost equal shares. The fuel is 100% sustainable, and the compression ratio is 16:1. The chassis has changed too, with around 30% less downforce and around 55% less drag, and a minimum weight of 768kg.
| Item | To 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| MGU-K output | 120kW | 350kW |
| MGU-H | Fitted | Scrapped |
| Electrical share | ~20% | ~50% |
| Energy recovered per lap | — | ~8.5MJ (nearly double) |
| Combustion engine output | — | ~400kW |
| Overtaking aid | DRS | Active aero + Overtake Mode |
Figures are taken from the F1.com and Honda explainers; the previous generation's per-lap recovery and combustion engine output are left blank because neither source gives them.
What happens on the straights without the MGU-H
The MGU-H used to feed exhaust energy into the battery even at full throttle. Now the MGU-K alone handles recovery, using the recharge modes F1.com describes: regeneration under braking, part-throttle and lift-off regeneration, and super clipping. Super clipping is recovery at full throttle at the end of a straight: rather than deploying the full 350kW all the way, the car cuts electrical deployment in the latter part of the straight and recharges the battery. Most of this is automated through engine maps. Active aero is released under lift-off regeneration but stays engaged during super clipping. At a track with full-throttle stretches as long as Baku's, how far into the battery you go and where you start cutting back determines both lap time and how well you can defend. F1 Live Pulse also noted that energy must be allocated carefully on long full-throttle sections so the battery is not drained too early.
Overtaking: active aero and +0.5MJ instead of DRS
DRS, in use since 2011, is gone. Instead, active aero's straight mode lowers the front and rear wing angles for every car alike in designated zones. The chasing car's advantage now comes from Overtake Mode. A driver within one second of the car ahead at the detection point (in principle the final corner) gets an extra 0.5MJ of charge, allowing higher speed to be held for longer on the next lap's straight, and on top of that a boost button lets the driver deploy maximum power or a team-defined profile to attack or defend. F1 Live Pulse reckons this combination changes Baku's overtaking equation from rear-wing advantage to maximising electrical deployment.
Baku by the numbers
A lap of Baku is 6.003km, and the race is 51 laps and 306.049km. The mix of a seafront full-throttle section of more than 1km, 90-degree corners, heavy braking zones and the narrow passages of the old town means traction, braking and temperature management matter more for tyres than lateral load, and Pirelli has chosen the C3 as hard, C4 as medium and C5 as soft. Strong winds are forecast for Friday qualifying, so wind may be a bigger variable than tyre wear. Power unit supply: Mercedes powers Mercedes, Williams, Alpine and McLaren; Ferrari powers Ferrari, Haas and Cadillac; Red Bull-Ford powers the Red Bull teams; Honda powers Aston Martin; and Audi powers Audi. Kimi Antonelli leads the championship by 81 points after winning in Madrid, and Cadillac team principal Marcin Budkowski has said energy management is the team's weakness despite using the same unit as Ferrari. This year, Baku is a circuit where the team that best plans its recovery and deployment gets ahead on the straights.