Virtual energy

Virtual energy is the Hypercar class's way of metering performance: each car receives a maximum energy allocation per stint, expressed in megajoules and set through Balance of Performance, covering what the powertrain may deploy regardless of whether it comes from fuel or hybrid recovery. When the allocation is spent, the car must pit.

The system is why stint lengths are a BoP output rather than a tank-size fact, and why energy management driving such as lift and coast is structural to the class. It also gives race engineers a clean currency for strategy: laps remaining in the stint is an arithmetic of megajoules per lap.