What is ‘super clipping’? Strange new F1 2026 jargon explained

Formula 1’s overhauled regulations have resulted in some pretty strange new jargon to get used to during the 2026 season.

One of the weird terms to emerge during pre-season testing in Bahrain is ‘super clipping’, which you may have heard be referenced during live broadcasts of the on-track action.

Super clipping is one of four ways the new generation of F1 cars can charge the battery, with the new-for-2026 power units having a near 50/50 split in power produced by the international combustion engine and battery power.

The others methods of energy recovery are regenerative braking, where the motor recovers energy while slowing for a corner, part-throttle overload, where the battery takes power from the engine in parts of the track where the driver does not need to be full throttle, and lift and coast, which is when the driver lifts off before corners so the electric motor can run against the engine.

Drivers have new tools at their disposal in their 2026 F1 cars, including a ‘boost’ mode which uses additional power to help with overtaking or defending.

The enhanced power delivery from the battery has placed a greater emphasis on the amount of energy management and recovery drivers need to do across a lap. This is expected to result in drivers needing to have to lift-and-coast on flying laps in qualifying.

“You give it full power from everything you've got; I.C.E., the battery, deployment, 350 kilowatts and once you reach terminal velocity, you can start to throttle back. A bit like a plane, when it gets up,” Sky Sports F1’s Anthony Davidson explained.

“And when you've turned the engine down, then you're just on internal combustion power, so you're not getting any deployment anymore from the battery, it’s time is done. When you're sailing along, you're just cruising with the I.C.E. At some point near the braking zone at the end of the first straight, the super clip will kick in. The super clip is like engaging a dynamo. So it'll really slow you down at 250 kilowatts of energy.

“It's all a calculation of where the system feels it should harvest energy and deploy the energy.”

Will Silverstone become a 'charging station'?

Clipping is set to become a hot topic at this weekend's British Grand Prix, with several drivers expressing concerns that a lap around the legendary Silverstone track will not be as special as it once was due to the energy management requirements. 

Lewis Hamilton, his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso fear the challenge of iconic corners like Copse, Maggotts, Becketts, and Chapel will be diminished as they desperately seek to charge their batteries. 

Hamilton warned it will be an "unprecedented weekend in terms of the power deployment", while Alonso joked some corners will be reduced to being "a charging station" for the engines. 

The FIA has set the deployment limit to 8MJ for the race and 6.5MJ for qualifying. This is 0.5MJ lower than at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Are F1’s new rules too complicated?

Hamilton has been one of the most vocal in expressing concerns that the complexity of F1’s new rules could confuse and turn off fans.

"None of the fans are going to understand it, I don't think," the Ferrari driver said during the first week of pre-season testing in Bahrain.

"It's ridiculously complex. I sat in a meeting the other day and they're taking us through it. It's like you need a degree to fully understand it all.”

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen has been brutally critical of the new rules and cars, branding them as “Formula E on steroids” and “not a lot of fun” to drive.

"The right word is management. But on the other hand, I also know how much work has been going on in the background. Also from the engine side, for the guys. So it's not always the nicest thing to say," Verstappen said in the first week in Bahrain. 

"But I also want to be realistic. As a driver, the feeling is not very Formula 1-like. It feels a bit more like Formula E on steroids.

"As a pure driver, I enjoy driving flat out. And at the moment, you cannot drive like that. There's a lot going on. A lot of what you do as a driver, in terms of inputs, has a massive effect on the energy side of things.

"For me, that's just not Formula 1. Maybe it's better to drive Formula E, right? Because that's all about energy efficiency and management. That's what they stand for. Driving-wise, it's not so fun."