Gentle with the throttle pedal – Verstappen mentally prepared for a 'painful' Monza weekend

Monza, Italy – As Formula 1 cars hurtle down the Curva Grande descent at over 340 km/h this weekend, Max Verstappen will not be thinking about victory. He will be thinking about the battery. About how to avoid confusing the self-learning algorithms of the power unit. About accepting a reality he himself warned of years ago: 'We will have to be gentle with the throttle pedal.' That is not a complaint. It is a clinical analysis from a four-time world champion who has shifted from the role of critic to the role of endurance bearer in the energy game of the 2026 regulatory era. The context of this weekend is clear: the 4 MJ energy harvesting limit imposed by the FIA at high-speed circuits like Monza. This is an extremely low figure – in the previous hybrid era, permitted harvesting levels at high-speed circuits were significantly higher. The limit was designed to prevent 'super clipping' – the excessive energy deployment that creates unfair performance gaps. But the consequence is 'regular clipping': the MGU-K exhausts its electrical deployment power early in each straight, forcing drivers to run on pure internal combustion for substantial portions of the track. Verstappen has described Monza as a 'very energy-inefficient' circuit. At Budapest and Zandvoort – 'energy-rich' circuits – this issue is less binding. But at Monza, with its long straights and high average speeds, the energy budget is exhausted quickly, and recovery opportunities are limited. The 'gentle with the throttle pedal' technique Verstappen mentions is not a choice; it is a necessity. Interestingly, within this seemingly disadvantageous context, there is a silver lining for Red Bull. FIA's ADUO (Anti-Detection Unit/Optical sensor) data indicates Red Bull possesses the most powerful internal combustion engine on the entire grid. With the MGU-K exhausting early, the raw output of the ICE becomes the differentiator. This is why Monza 'could in theory suit Red Bull slightly better than Zandvoort'. However, Verstappen remains sceptical: the ICE advantage may be insufficient to overcome the energy management deficit. That deficit is not a one-off occurrence. Verstappen admits: 'On the inefficient tracks, we've not been particularly great with energy.' This is a rare confession from a once-dominant driver. But it also signals that Red Bull has a systemic issue in its ERS calibration strategy – not just a track-specific anomaly. Another crucial technical factor: the self-learning algorithms of the power unit. Small deviations in the energy management approach can confuse these algorithms, causing 'major consequences'. McLaren's Oscar Piastri experienced this first-hand at Spa – a prime example that even top-tier drivers can get energy management wrong. At Monza, where the constraint is even tighter, this risk is elevated. Strategically, energy management has replaced tire strategy as the primary strategic variable at Monza. In previous seasons, tire degradation and slipstream tactics usually dominated. This weekend, competitive differentiation will come from who can extract the most from a constrained energy budget. Verstappen describes having to be 'gentle with the throttle pedal' – a technique that sacrifices some corner-exit acceleration to preserve deployment for later in the straight. This is a race-long trade-off: short-term lap-time loss versus avoiding the catastrophe of algorithm confusion. Piastri, with detailed simulation data from McLaren, confirms that top speeds at Monza will be 'considerably lower than in previous years'. This not only affects overtaking capability but fundamentally changes the nature of the race. High-speed side-by-side battles could become rarer, as drivers prioritize energy conservation. Red Bull's decline is now openly acknowledged by its lead driver. Verstappen states: 'We were already behind before that, so I don't expect that to change now.' This is a rare concession from a four-time champion. The sister team RB being described as 'clearly the fourth force' at Zandvoort further emphasizes the picture: both Red Bull teams are struggling, indicating a broader organizational performance issue, not just a single-car problem. Verstappen has fully recovered from the flu that afflicted him at Zandvoort, and he enters Monza in better physical condition. But this is unlikely to offset the car's energy management deficit. It merely removes a compounding negative factor. Psychologically, Verstappen has entered a 'transitional acceptance' phase. From a vocal critic of the regulations in 2026 – when he warned of this very issue at Monza – to resigned acceptance: 'I also don't want to be too negative about it all. It is what it is.' A driver who has mentally written off the current season is likely prioritizing 2026 development feedback over immediate results. His statement about 'learning more about the car and the things that we want to do different for next year' confirms this forward-looking orientation. The FIA and F1 are 'doing everything they can to ease the pain', according to Verstappen – including the extremely low harvesting limit. But he quickly adds: 'Better doesn't mean that it's fixed. It's far from fixed.' This is an acknowledgment of the limits of regulatory patchwork. The fundamentals cannot be changed in the short term, and Monza will be a stress test for the 2026 regulatory framework. If the Monza race becomes a procession – with drivers unable to compete due to energy conservation – pressure will mount for more fundamental regulatory changes, potentially mid-cycle, creating new competitive winners and losers. Verstappen, with his powerful ICE advantage, could be a beneficiary of ICE-focused rules. For Verstappen, this weekend is not about victory. It is about surviving an energy surgery he himself predicted years ago. And as the cars hurtle down the Curva Grande descent, the question is not who is fastest – but who can be most patient with the throttle pedal. The defeat at Luzhniki taught me what victory never says: sometimes, patience in pain is the only thing you can control. At Monza, Verstappen is showing us how a true champion faces a lost season – not with anger, but with cold acceptance and a longer view. I don't believe in luck; I believe in numbers lined up straight. And the numbers at Monza this weekend are saying: this will be a race of endurance, not speed. When the stands are empty (or full but irrelevant), sport strips off its shell and reveals its skeleton – and the skeleton of F1 2026 is energy, not aerodynamics. Spectators see the move; I see a whole chess game in motion. And in this Monza chess game, the first move was decided before the cars even started: be gentle with the throttle pedal, or face the consequences. The remaining question is: will this patience be enough to turn a 'painful' weekend into a display of excellence in discipline?