F1 boss claims 'fans don't care' about crucial missing TV graphic

F1 boss Stefano Domenicali has claimed that fans are not "interested in how you drive the car" as he defended the absence of a crucial TV graphic.

In the early rounds of the season, an on-screen graphic from the world feed showed the state of charge of the beefed-up battery systems, which now generate 350kw of electrical power and 50% of the power from the engine.

However, in recent rounds, this had disappeared for cars locked in battle, meaning fans and media are unaware of how much state of charge a driver has at their disposal when defending or attacking. 

Questioned about this, Domenicali explained that from the data F1 had gathered, "people are interested if you're overtaking or not", not "how you drive the car" and that for some of the fanbase, the terminology being used in 2026 was too "technical."

"The truth is exactly the other way around, because no one is interested in how you drive your car," Domenicali replied to media, including RacingNews365. 

"People are interested if you're overtaking or not. That's the vast majority of the people. I agree that certain people are focused on this thing that is very important. It's like when you were opening the DRS, people were not interested in what was the [cause of] the pass.

"I had an incredible and interesting discussion with [Star Wars creator] George Lucas on Saturday. He was in Hungary and gave me an incredible view on how the new fans are watching Formula 1, and he gave us an incredible perspective to see how we can really simplify things because the new fans are not understanding the truth of what is behind the scenes. They are fascinated by the fact that there is a lot of action.

"Since the beginning, there has been a debate. There's been some, I would say, debate on the technical regulation of this year, mainly from the inner world, some drivers, some people that are part of our ecosystem, but in a nutshell, the championship is becoming very fascinating. 

"There is a lot of action on the track. People are loving it. They are focused on what is happening on the track. They don't understand our technical definitions of [super] clipping or whatever because it is too technical for the wider fanbase we have. 

“There is definitely the need for the ones that are so focused on that to have the right information, but for the vast majority of the people, trust me, they just want to see what is happening on the track. They are not interested in the angle of throttle or the brake pressure or how you can overtake.

“If you think of the incredible overtake of Max [Verstappen] and Lewis [Hamilton], at Turn 1 in Hungary, this is a piece of art that people just want to see, and is just connected to the quality of the drivers.

“At the end of the day, this is a scheme that the driver can have on how you can maximise the performance of your car, no matter if it's braking, accelerating power that is done by the electrification. 

"That's what I think is happening. Of course, for a niche of our fans, this data is relevant, and of course it is available. But as I said, for the vast majority, that's what we receive as information."