A lot has been said about Formula 1's 2026 regulations - and specifically new energy management tactics - making the driver's role more critical this year.
The theory is that the need to manage energy harvesting, deploy a well-timed use of the battery boost, and pick the right moment to pull off overtakes will allow the smart racers to excel.
World champion Lando Norris has spoken about the potential for "more chaotic racing" as drivers adopted different approaches for using their boost buttons, while Mercedes boss Toto Wolff predicted "the most clever guys in the car and on the engineering side are going to win".
But two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso has poured cold water on such romantic thoughts about the new era giving back control to the drivers.
Instead, he suggested a combination of F1's brilliant engineers being able to get on top of the complexities quickly on a race weekend, allied to some 'over-restrictive' rules, means there will be little scope for individual talent to shine.
"It is a little more complex, so it requires a little bit of thinking before jumping in the car or preparing an overtake," Alonso said about the challenges of the 2026 rules.
"But, at the same time, the teams are so well prepared now. Everything is simulated before and we have that information already from Thursday.
“By Sunday I think there are not many surprises and not many mistakes that the driver can do.
"So you don't have much freedom in terms of what you can do in the cockpit, or how much energy you can use."
In terms of the regulations, Alonso suggested restrictions like the ramp-down rate in available energy, and use of activation zones for overtake mode, mean that drivers are also quite locked in.
"It's very limited by the FIA," he said. "So when you derate and you cut the energy, it has to be done at a certain rate of derating.
"When you want to use the energy, there is not that much more energy that you can have compared to the cars in front, because we all have to deploy the maximum energy for one second at the corner exit.
"There are a couple of things that are really probably over-regulated.
"So in terms of freedom or how to use that energy in a clever way, it's going to be minimal differences because there is not much you can do, unfortunately."
While F1 is not alone in shifting towards a formula dominated by energy efficiency - Alonso has experienced fuel-saving in IndyCar and hybrid management in the World Endurance Championship - he said this new ruleset will not provide as big a thrill as old-school F1.
"There is for sure more adrenaline with the older cars," said Alonso, who won the first of his titles in the last year of the V10 era in 2005 and the second when V8 engines were introduced the following year.
"There is more sense of driving at the limit with the old cars and even when we jump in a go-kart, probably that's the purest motorsport racing that you can have.
"It's nice to drive cars at the limit of the physics and things like that, and not by efficiency or a robot style of driving that you need to maximise efficiency.
"It's the way the world seems to go in the last few decades, not only motorsport, everything is more or less like that."
But he said there is unlikely to ever be a return to what he says were the glory days of F1 around 20 years ago.
"I think we will get used to it," he said. "But I think we will never go back to the late '90s or early 2000s, where the cars were light, fast, and with the noise of the engine.
"Everything was probably at the peak of the Formula 1 DNA. Now we are moving more into a different Formula 1. I don't know if it's better or worse. Different for sure."
For Alonso's team-mate Lance Stroll, the likelihood is that, no matter how much drivers like or dislike the quirks of the current cars, their satisfaction will ultimately be dictated by the end result.
"I've been saying it for a long time, I think it would be nice to have normally aspirated engines with synthetic fuels," said Stroll.
"But I don't make the rules, I just drive the cars. I'm sure whoever is going to be [successful] - George [Russell] when he's maybe winning the race in Australia by 30 seconds in his Mercedes - isn't going to mind downshifting on the straights and lifting and coasting too much."
While Aston Martin's drivers are not convinced about how the racing will turn out in 2026, team principal Adrian Newey has expressed reservations about how much overtaking there will be this year.
As part of the revamped chassis regulations, F1 has moved away from a full-on ground effect concept and made a big effort to limit areas that teams were exploiting but which produced dirty air.
Although the FIA has faith that the effort for the 2026 cars is worth it because it will allow drivers to follow each other closer, Newey was not convinced things will improve much.
Speaking at Aston Martin's livery launch in Saudi Arabia, he said: "There's been a lot made up about ease of overtaking, and that was the intention of the '22 regulation change.
"If you talk to the drivers, that helped a little bit initially. By the end of last season, they didn't feel it was any better than it was in '21. It could be something similar here."