Damascene moment has Charles Leclerc speaking for almost all of us, as more and more drivers speak out over 2026 rules.

Other than the effect of the rules themselves, it is manner in which F1's powers-that-be are attempting to pull the wool over our eyes, insisting that not only are the new rules improving the sport they are making it the best ever version of the sport.

Sadly, as is the case with so much these days the deceit is being carried out with the full support of much of the media.

Ahead of today's qualifying session, Sky Sport's Karun Chandhok excitedly told viewers: "I just want to show you the difference in acceleration between last year and this year." Standing in front of the broadcasters' Sky Pad, he played Kimi Antonelli's best lap from FP3 alongside George Russell's best lap from qualifying in 2025.

"Last year's cars had more downforce, had a bit more aerodynamic grip," he screeched. "George is already on the exit kerb, Kimi a bit further back, so he's lost two-and-a-half-tenths there, Kimi Antonelli on the left, to George Russell.

"Now watch this!" he shouts, "they unleash the full deployment to climb up this hill, it's quite a steep gradient, now here's a one-hundred metre board, up there on the right, we'll creep up on it, and you see there, Antonelli is already at the hundred metre board, George is a long way off. They're losing six-tenths on the straight, on the run up, with that extra, extra power they've got in terms of acceleration, the cars themselves are doing 330 km/h on the run up the hill, then they have to recharge through 130R, but I tell you what, the lap time this morning from Antonelli, a 29.3, that is equal to what we saw in qualifying for pole in 2022."

Of course, as has become the norm, the onboard didn't continue through 130R for either car, instead we cut away as Chandhok continued his praise.

This was gaslighting of the highest order.

On boards posted to social media on Friday showed that, while at full throttle, Russell lost around 60km/h (37 mph) in 130R, Verstappen 54km/h (33 mph) and Colapinto an amazing 98km/h (60 mph).

F1 was up to its tricks also. "Kimi Antonelli secures the @pirellisport Pole Position Lap in Japan!" it posted on X. "Let's ride onboard with the Mercedes driver for his lap of the iconic Suzuka"

Cue reader context of the accompanying video.

"This is not a full onboard lap;" it declared, "it cuts to external shots before 130R to avoid showing super clipping and speed loss due to energy management regulations."

In reaction, F1 posted: "Unfortunately Kimi's onboard camera had a technical issue part way through his lap, meaning we are unable to bring you the lap onboard in full. To analyse his lap, please see our ghost car comparison with a full lap onboard view from George Russell's fastest qualifying effort."

"That's false," came the reader context response. "On F1TV, both of Kimi Antonelli's laps in Q3 can be watched on the onboard camera without interruptions."

Despite the "technical issue" fans were able to continue posting the original onboard, amidst claims of their posts being removed due to "copyright".

In the aftermath of qualifying, Formula Data Analysis claimed that cars were losing between 48 and 60km/h through 130R.

In many ways, qualifying is one of the main highlights of the race weekend. It is when we get to see the cars at their fastest, not loaded down with fuel, and running brand new tyres, it is when drivers get to push themselves and their machines to the limit.

Not any more.

Despite being one of the staunch supporters of the new rules, as he loses ground to the Mercedes, Charles Leclerc appears to have seen the light.

"I honestly cannot stand these rules in qualifying," he told his team over the radio as he headed back to the pits. "It's a f****** joke! I go faster in corners, I go on throttle earlier, for f*** sake, I lose everything in the straight."

Once out of the car, he told reporters: "In Q3, that's where you want to get out on the track and try things you've never tried before, taking risks that you've never taken before. That's been rewarding for most of us in all our careers, and now this is not possible anymore.

"Every time you go a little bit over the limit, anytime you have a bit of a snap, this is costing energy on the power unit side, and then you pay the price more," he sighed.

"I feel like, at the moment, consistency is paying off more than being brave and going to take something that you've never tried before, which is a shame, and which makes qualifying a little bit less challenging, and this is something that we need to work on, but it's a known issue.

"It's not that, I think, the FIA or the teams are just accepting the situation as it is," he insisted. "There's a lot of work behind the scenes, and I hope that we can find a solution."

Fernando Alonso, the sport's true Samurai warrior, who has driven - and won on - almost all the great tracks, suggested that the new rules are killing drivers' tracks like Suzuka.

"It's gone," he said. "I told you in Bahrain, Turn 12, the chef could drive the car, now maybe fifty percent of the team members, I think, at least can drive in Suzuka.

"As I said a few times already, high-speed corners now became the charging station for the car," he added. "So you go slow there, you charge the battery in the high-speed, and then you have the full power on the straight.

"So driver skill is not really needed anymore. You just need to back-off the throttle or turn down the battery and you charge the thing. So, yeah, no more challenge in the high speed."

"It hurts your soul when you see your speed dropping so much, 56 kph down the straight," lamented Lando Norris.

"Some of those corners which were balls to the wall before are not the case anymore," commented Oliver Bearman, while alex Albon said: "I think what I'm feeling so far this year is that there isn't really any high speed anymore. Because you're arriving so slowly, basically everything is a medium speed."

"The more you pushed the slower you went," claimed teammate Carlos Sainz. "That's what happened to me in Q2. I think I had a bit less slipstream in my lap and I was in clean air. I went quicker in every corner, slower in every straight and I went 0.1 seconds slower.

"And that's simply because I spent more time full throttle because I went faster in the corners and pushed harder at a high speed, pushed everywhere."

Of course, this was despite the FIA tweaking the rules for qualifying, by limiting the amount of energy drivers were allowed to harvest.

"Super clipping came into the deployment a bit and there was lift and coast also in that qualifying lap, so overall not good enough for F1," said Sainz.

"Listening to the FIA yesterday they seem to be pushing and have a plan in mind," he added, "but I'm a bit worried that some teams will push back and be against changing it too much because they have other interests.

"But I think we have made it clear from the drivers that it needs to get better and hopefully they will listen to the drivers instead of the teams."

Max Verstappen has already made his feelings about the 2026 rules quite clear, indeed he was expressing his doubts over a year ago. Add to this the uncompetitiveness of his car and it is no wonder some are doubting his future in the sport.

"If you lose your motivation in F1, it's better to quit, or at least take a break," Heinz-Harald Frentzen posted on X. "That's what I did. The sport is too dangerous if you lose your focus," the ex-Sauber driver posted."

It would be good to think that the powers-that-be will listen, but that would mean admitting to a mistake. So, in the meantime the live broadcasts are manipulated and fans comments are censored, indeed it is claimed that F1 is using bots for positive comments, while a complicit media, including former racers and world champions, tells us that we've never had it so good.

Check out our Saturday gallery from Suzuka here.