Formula 1 returns after more than a month off this weekend at Miami, with the championship’s regulations debated as much as ever.

The new battery-dominated era of F1 has been a hot topic, to say the least, since it was first seen at Australia in March.

While overtaking has become more prominent, some argue it has come at a cost through a new style of “yoyo racing” via power harvesting and deployment as opposed to late braking, while super clipping has taken the shine off some of the spectacle of qualifying.

Fan feedback has been mixed to say the least, with many who have been watching for decades struggling with the concept, while some have simply enjoyed the added action and volatility.

Some of the biggest drivers on the grid, led by Max Verstappen, labelling it as Mario Kart and Fernando Alonso, describing it as the “battery world championship”, have been extremely outspoken.

Following Ollie Bearman’s scary crash at Suzuka, F1 and the FIA have made some tweaks to the regulations in a bid to avoid similar scenarios in the future and that will be on show in Miami.

Of the modern era only the infamous switch from V8 to V6 hybrids in 2014 has caused such a stir in F1.

Despite the backlash, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali strongly defended the regulations and was adamant that there are “ not any problems.”

“I think this is not a problem of resolving the problem of Formula 1,” he told The Race.

“Formula 1 has not any problems, Formula 1 is in great shape, just to make sure that is clear to everyone.

“And the vast majority of fans have been, since the beginning, very positive about what they see in terms of race action.

“Even now, so far is all good. So I don’t see this negativity.

“We have data that our people can give you in terms of real numbers. It is all positive.”

However, not only current drivers, but ex-drivers are expressing concerns.

The legendary Nigel Mansell, who won the 1992 championship and was remembered for his aggressive style behind the wheel through the eighties, has just spoken out about the current ruleset.

As a driver who pushed the limits in the turbo and naturally aspirated eras, he did not feel right about the current state of racing.

“I might get shot for saying this, but sadly some of the overtakes are just totally false,” Mansell told Autosport.

“I mean, some of the overtakes look great and then you come out the next corner and then the car just blasts past you and the other car goes backwards because the computer is giving you the extra power not at the right time and the driver doesn’t control that obviously because he wouldn’t have employed it.

“I think it was Lando (Norris) who said, ‘well I didn’t want to overtake him going into the fast corner into the chicane, but I had no choice.’

“I think coming out the corner he didn’t lean and then the car just blasts past him again going down the straight.

“I think you’ve got to be very careful because, forget me, it doesn’t matter about me, but the fans around the world, I know an awful lot of them are very grumpy and to be fair to the fans I agree with them.”

During his defence of the regulations, Domenicali felt the turbos had just as significant an impact of the new V6 hybrids.

“You know, overtaking, some people are saying it is artificial,” he said. “What is artificial? An overtake is an overtake.

“People have a short memory. Because in the turbo age in the 80’s, I was already following quite well Formula 1.

“The lift and coast were using different turbos, different speeds. And you have to save in racing, because otherwise the fuel tank was too small. You couldn’t have the time.

“Maybe some of the old people are criticising or having some comments, have a short memory. So look back in the 80’s, at the turbo time, these things were there there.

“It’s part of the game, as always. Globally speaking, it’s been very positive reaction from the fans.”

However, Mansell, who was a regular winner for Williams and Ferrari during the late eighties in the turbo era, snapped at Domenicali’s suggestion.

“No, we didn’t (lift and coast),” he said.

“If you lifted and then coasted it was like feathering. Feathering a throttle when you’re slipstreaming somebody and deciding not to overtake them, that’s saving fuel and feathering, that’s smart.

“Having to have a computer just take over the running of the car and harvest for the battery, that’s something totally different and we didn’t slow down 50 to 70km going into the fastest corners.

“So it’s a bit of a stretch to compare that I have to say.

“I do sympathise with the drivers enormously, I think it’s very dangerous at the moment and we got away with one terrible accident in Japan already, so that was luck, he could have been hurt really bad.”

There is no doubt the culture war and debate will roll on in Miami.

Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images

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