What Is Clipping in F1? (And Why “Super Clipping” Matters for 2026)

If you’ve ever heard an F1 engineer groan about “clipping,” here’s the simple version:

Clipping is when an F1 car stops getting its full hybrid boost on a straight because the battery can’t keep supplying (or is being asked to recharge), so the total power drops. The driver can still be flat-out… but the car won’t accelerate like you’d expect.

It’s one of those weird hybrid-era features where the car can be visually doing the same thing (full throttle), while the power system is doing something very different.

And in the 2026 rules era, clipping doesn’t disappear — it evolves into something even stranger: “super clipping.”

The basics: where “clipping” comes from

What is clipping in F1?

Modern F1 cars are hybrids: the internal combustion engine (ICE) is helped by an electric motor called the MGU-K (K = kinetic). The MGU-K can:

• Deploy electrical energy to add power (extra shove down straights)

• Harvest energy (mostly under braking) to recharge the battery

The catch is: the battery has limits. If the car has already used a lot of electrical energy earlier in the lap (or can’t harvest enough), it may hit a point on the straight where it simply can’t deploy anymore at the intended level.

That drop-off is what fans and engineers call clipping.

Think of it like a phone on low battery going into power-saving mode… except it happens at 330 km/h.

“Classic clipping” in the 2014–2025 hybrid era

In the hybrid era we’ve just lived through, clipping usually meant:

• The car starts the straight deploying electric power.

• Partway down the straight, the battery reaches its allowed minimum state-of-charge (or hits its energy budget).

• The MGU-K contribution reduces or stops.

• The car’s acceleration tails off earlier than you’d expect.

On data, you’d often see a car “hit a wall” in acceleration at high speed compared to a lap where deployment stayed strong longer.

Why clipping becomes a bigger talking point for 2026

The 2026 power units increase the role of electric power a lot.

F1’s own explainer describes the goal as moving from roughly ~20% electrical contribution to ~50%. The MGU-K also becomes far more powerful, with the regulations allowing up to 350 kW electrical power.

That sounds awesome… but it creates an energy-management problem:

• You can’t run maximum electric boost all the time

• On many tracks there just isn’t enough braking energy available to refill the battery at the same rate you’d like to deploy it — especially on long straights and at “harvest-poor” circuits.

So the sport needs controlled ways to balance:

• Performance (deploying power)

• Energy recovery (charging the battery)

• Safety & predictability (avoiding weird speed changes)

This is where “super clipping” enters the chat.

What is “super clipping” in F1?

Super clipping is when the car starts harvesting energy while the driver is still at full throttle at the end of a straight.

That sounds impossible at first, so here’s the key idea:

• The MGU-K can act like a motor or a generator

• In motor mode, it adds torque to the drivetrain (more acceleration).

• In generator mode, it resists rotation and sends energy back into the battery.

So in super clipping, the driver stays flat-out, the ICE is still pushing… but the electrical system flips into recovery, using the MGU-K to “pull” energy back into the battery.

Result: the car can slow down (or accelerate less) even though the throttle is pinned. That “why is it slowing on full throttle?” moment is exactly what people noticed in early 2026 testing discussions.

Why would teams do that?

• Because sometimes it’s the least-bad option.

• If you don’t recover enough energy, you risk bigger problems later in the lap:

• running out of deployment earlier

• needing exaggerated lift-and-coast

• having poor “attack” energy for overtaking tools

Super clipping is basically a trade, sacrifice some end-of-straight speed to refill the battery so the car has usable energy elsewhere.

How do the rules limit it?

The FIA regulations place strict limits on electrical power and how it can be used. For example, the 2026 PU rules cap ERS-K electrical power at 350 kW, and also impose speed-dependent limits on how much electrical power can be used to propel the car at high speed.

On top of that, multiple reports around 2026 testing discussions describe a limit on how aggressive straight-line harvesting can be, commonly referenced as a 250 kW recovery cap in this “super clip” context.

The practical reason for a cap is straightforward:

If harvesting at full throttle is too aggressive, the car could create sudden, surprising speed changes near the end of straights — not ideal when cars are close together.

Super clipping vs lift-and-coast: why teams are arguing about it

When drivers lift-and-coast, they lift early before braking to save fuel/energy and increase recovery. But in 2026 there’s another twist: Active Aero.

F1’s explainer notes that when a driver lifts off to recharge (“lift-off regen”), it can disable active aero devices — while super clipping happens at full throttle, so the active aero stays in its “open” low-drag mode.

That matters because lift-and-coast can create:

• bigger and less predictable speed differences (especially if aero states change)

• more variation corner-to-corner depending on how each driver manages it

This is why some teams (notably discussed in 2026 testing coverage) have pushed the idea that more standardized end-of-straight harvesting could be safer and more consistent than lots of lift-and-coast scattered around the lap.

What clipping means for racing (and what you should watch for)

1) Overtakes could become more “energy chess”

In 2026, drivers will manage boost / overtake tools alongside recovery strategies. If one driver clips earlier on a straight, it can change:

• closing speeds

• slipstream effectiveness

• when a driver chooses to attack or defend

2) Qualifying laps may look “weird”

A driver might be flat-out, yet still not getting “full beans” at the same point each lap because:

• energy state-of-charge varies

• track profile changes recovery opportunities

• teams choose different maps for the lap

3) You may literally see cars slow earlier than expected

Especially at the end of long straights — the classic visual clue for super clipping.

A quick glossary (so you can sound like you belong on the pit wall)

Clipping: Loss/reduction of hybrid deployment on a straight because energy limits are reached.

Super clipping: Harvesting energy at the end of a straight while still full throttle, causing a power drop despite flat-out driving.

MGU-K: Motor-generator connected to the drivetrain; can deploy or harvest.

Lift-and-coast: Lifting off early to save energy/fuel and increase recovery.

Active Aero: 2026 cars dynamically change wing positions; lifting can affect aero state depending on mode.

The takeaway

Clipping is the hybrid system saying “nope, not enough deploy left,” and in 2026 it becomes a more deliberate tool.

Super clipping is the next step: harvesting energy at full throttle to keep the battery alive — at the cost of straight-line speed. Whether F1 tweaks those limits will depend on what happens once real racing starts, but the concept is already central to how the 2026 cars are being understood.