Lando Norris said there were moments during the Japanese Grand Prix when he was "at the mercy" of his McLaren's power unit during his battle with Lewis Hamilton.
Norris finished fifth at Suzuka after coming out on top in a late-race fight with Hamilton's Ferrari.
During the multi-lap battle, Norris passed Hamilton into the final chicane on one occasion, only for Hamilton to pass him again on the run to Turn 1.
Such incidents, where one driver uses battery energy to make a passing move and is then repassed on the following straight because of reduced power, have been labelled yo-yo racing.
"Honestly some of the racing, I didn't even want to overtake Lewis, it's just my battery deploys, and I don't want it to deploy but I can't control it," he said. "So I overtake him and then I have no battery, so he just flies past.
"This is not racing, this is yo-yoing. Even though he [Hamilton] says it's not, it is yo-yoing. When you're just at the mercy, of whatever the power unit delivers, the driver should be in control of it at least, and we're not.
"Yes the racing can look great on TV, but the racing inside the car, is certainly not as authentic as it needs to be."
Norris said he also had to lift off the throttle through 130R to avoid contact with Hamilton, and that sequence affected how the electrical boost was deployed when he accelerated again.
"The problem is, it deploys into 130R, I have to lift, otherwise I'll drive into him, and I'm not allowed to go back on throttle," he said. "If I go on throttle, my battery deploys, and I don't want it to deploy, because it should have cut, but because you lift, and you have to go back on and it redeploys.
"There's nothing I can do about it, so there's just not enough control for a driver, and that's why you're just too much at the mercy, of what's behind you, and that's just not how it should be."
