Norris and Verstappen criticise "yo-yo" battery effect after frustrating Suzuka race

At Suzuka, the so-called yo-yo effect was less extreme than during the season opener in Melbourne, but it remained a defining talking point of the weekend. While McLaren showed encouraging signs of progress, the nature of the racing itself left Lando Norris openly frustrated.

Norris: "This is not racing"

Speaking candidly, Norris described a race dynamic that he believes strips drivers of meaningful control.

“Honestly some of the racing, I didn't even want to overtake Lewis. It's just that my battery deploys, I don't want it to deploy, but I can't control it,” Norris said.

The problem, as he outlined it, is the forced nature of energy deployment when running within one second of the car ahead and using overtake mode. A move completed under battery assistance can immediately leave the attacking driver exposed.

“So, I overtake him, and then I have no battery left, so he just flies past. This is not racing, this is yo-yoing. Even though he [Hamilton] says it's not, it is yo-yoing.”

Beyond the frustration of overtakes losing their value, Norris was particularly critical of the lack of driver agency.

“When you're just at the mercy of whatever the power unit delivers, the driver should be in control of it at least, and we're not.”

The 130R complication

Norris pointed to a specific sequence that encapsulated the issue. After overtaking Hamilton in the final chicane, he was immediately vulnerable again on the main straight.

“Well, the problem is, it deploys into 130R. I have to lift, otherwise I'll drive into him, and then I'm not allowed to go back on throttle. If I go on throttle, my battery deploys, and I don't want it to deploy because it should have cut. But because you lift and you have to go back on [throttle], it redeploys.”

The consequence was clear: the battery drained once more, leaving Norris defenseless by the end of the start-finish straight.

“There's nothing I can do about it. There's just not enough control for a driver, and that's why you're just too much at the mercy of what's behind you. That's just not how it should be.”

Verstappen: Suzuka exposes the weakness

Max Verstappen echoed those concerns, suggesting that Suzuka’s layout magnified the limitations of battery deployment strategy.

“In general, you just have to be very careful with how you use your battery. It's a bit tricky,” Verstappen explained. “The problem is of course that you have a long straight and then only a little chicane and then a long straight again.”

The configuration — particularly the long straight before 130R, followed by limited opportunities to recharge in the Casio Triangle and through super clipping in 130R — creates a structural imbalance.

“So, if you deploy in one straight you have nothing on the other. On some other tracks if you have a long straight and then you have maybe a few corners and you have time to charge, here you don't,” Verstappen said.

“That's basically in a lot of places where you want to go for an overtake, then there's only one corner to charge and then a long straight again. So that makes it basically impossible to use the battery because it's completely inefficient to do that.”

The net effect is a racing pattern where overtakes in traditional passing zones become strategically compromised. Drivers must choose between attacking and defending, but rarely have the tools to do both.

A spectacle on TV, a different reality in the cockpit

For Norris, the broader concern goes beyond a single track or isolated duel. He believes the racing may appear compelling from the outside, but the experience inside the car tells a different story.

“So yeah, some things can be improved, but the FIA know that, I hope they do it. Yes, the racing can look great on TV, but the racing inside the car is certainly not as authentic as it needs to be.”

Suzuka did showcase competitive progress for McLaren and moments of wheel-to-wheel action. Yet, as both Norris and Verstappen made clear, the balance between energy management and racing instinct remains a critical tension — one that, in their view, still needs refinement.