AI Difficulty Broken: Infinite ERS and Slow Race Pace

I dunno if this is an issue or not but compare to F1 25 AI that are slightly better, the F1 26 AI feels way too OP. On the straights, they somehow pulled away and sometimes hard to pull a gap from them despite managing the battery mode. Is it an AI bug or something else?

Are you using custom car setups? Can you describe in more detail how you are managing the battery? I play on 95 and haven't noticed an issue with the AI.

I was running a custom setup on Madrid Street Circuit and was running on 80 (mostly I play against AI between high 60 to around 80 to 81). For the battery I usually use normal battery deployment then at the Detection Point, I used the boost deployment. Probably it's only that circuit that they are overpowered? But on the other circuits it seems they are also overpowered (edited)

I haven't tried Madrid myself outside of time trial, but yes, I've heard a couple of people say the AI are fast there so it might need a balance pass.

Other than that I would just say make sure your lifting and coasting often to keep the battery up because the way the power mapping is set up it will deploy different energy levels in different parts of the circuit. So even if you think you've got some left it might be about to eat all of that.

Could the problem with super qualifying be that the AI are constantly using a 100% battery? There's a completely flawed balance between qualifying and the race. 

It is currently impossible to compete in the Q on dry. 

Which mode, Career, GP?

I didn’t check yet but often it depends on setup and also driver ability. I mean it’s very changeable and depending on personal feelings. 

For example how was F1 25 for you? In my experience (GP mode) I was quite stronger in Qualifying pace rather than in Race despite not taking too much risk and preparing the setup for Race only.

Besides in F1 25 AI was very low level in comparison with the past (F1 24 etc.) so I would welcome any improvement because if you are too fast you cannot have fun, while if you are slow you can always decrease AI level…

I don't think it's a question of skill. I mean, incredibly strong drivers, those who used to give 2 seconds in qualifying in F1 25 to 110 now struggle to get through Q2, only to find themselves battling for the podium in the race. It's more a question of how you use the battery. In qualifying “without boost” in the wet you can aim for pole, but in the dry definitely not 😅

No, the AI ​​isn't overpowered. You have to figure out your own energy management—deciding where to use the boost and where it's better not to. It’s roughly 80% "hotlap" pace (depending on the track) with boost used only on the straights; depending on the circuit, the split might be 80% hotlap and 20% boost. Using too much boost leaves you extremely slow by the end of the lap, which is why the AI ​​ends up being faster than you. The new rules require a lot more practice to figure out how to manage energy during qualifying.
For me, the 110 AI/KI is beatable through good energy management.

As the title says the AI are very unbalanced on qualifying and races. If I do 105 AI in Australia qualifying which is more or less where I should be, with a Mercedes I am not even top 5 even though i should be. Meanwhile in races the AI are way to easy to overtake, it's like they don't use much battery. This needs to be checked.

This is not true, if you watch AI replay in career mode during qualifying they aren’t limited to how much they use boost at all. You may be good but the game itself is blatantly not balanced