Hamilton slams F1's software dependency after losing three-tenths to a glitch in Miami

Lewis Hamilton has called for Formula 1 to reduce its dependence on complex software systems, warning that drivers are being penalised for committing to fast corners rather than rewarded for raw pace — a dynamic he described as a “real frustration” during the Miami Grand Prix weekend.

Speaking to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on the StarTalk podcast, the seven-time world champion and current Ferrari driver outlined the counterintuitive energy management dilemma facing drivers under the 2026 technical regulations.

“The ultimate goal when you’re driving a Formula 1 car is to push the car to the limit,” Hamilton explained. “The faster you take a corner, hopefully you should be up on your time compared to others. And right now, with what we have, because we have a limited amount of battery, when you’re off power, you’re charging the battery, when you’re on power, you’re using power.”

Hamilton pointed specifically to the removal of the MGU-H — the heat-recovery element of the hybrid system that was present in last year’s power unit — as a factor that has reduced available charge and created scenarios where greater commitment through high-speed corners actually hurts a driver’s subsequent straight-line performance.

“If you’re more committed and you take more risk and you go faster through a corner, you get penalised afterwards because you don’t charge enough,” he said.

The situation was brought into sharp relief by a software malfunction during the Miami weekend. “I was losing three-tenths of a second just because the software wasn’t doing its job,” Hamilton said. “I didn’t know until I came back to my engineers. I was like, ‘I’m sorry, I’m slow,’ and they’re like, ‘You’re not slow, the software wasn’t working.’ So that’s a real frustration because back in the day, they didn’t have that. We need less.”

Hamilton’s comments come at a point in the season where he sits third in the drivers’ championship after nine rounds, trailing leader Kimi Antonelli and Antonelli’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell.