The FIA has officially revealed the regulations that will characterize the 2026 Formula 1 single-seaters, which will represent a true revolution of the revolution. If the 2022 rules had already pushed for a clear break with the recent past, in two years the series will see another turnaround with a new path.
The 2026 cars will have a new identity, abandoning the ground effect known during this technical cycle, focusing on a reduction in the load generated by the diffuser and the bottom, with the latter returning to being almost totally flat allowing the use of less compact setups. rigid to keep the car low. Furthermore, the Power Units will also change, giving greater performance to the hybrid, with a 50% split each between the electrical and thermal parts.
However, just one day after the FIA published its plans for the revolution that will take place in 2026 with the new regulations, concerns immediately emerged about some of the ideas that will be implemented. As usual, over the Canadian weekend there was a meeting between Stefano Domenicali and the teams in which the topic of the new regulations was discussed in depth. The concern is that the Federation has brought forward elements that will not prove to be as effective as hypothesized.
FIA 2026 F1 car rendering
Photo by: FIA
Weight question: difficult limit to reach?
As the seasons went by, the weight of the single-seaters increased constantly, both for safety and technical reasons linked to the introduction of hybrid components. It has now reached almost 800 kg, which is why the FIA wanted to reverse course by attempting to reduce the minimum mass. For 2026, the weight should be reduced to 768 kg: however, although it may seem like a modest reduction, in reality, according to the teams, reaching that figure will be extremely complicated, also given the increase in the size of the battery.
As said by Nikolas Tombazis, the governing body’s idea was to further reduce the weight, perhaps reaching around 50kg less than the current regulation, but the teams opposed it and in the end a compromise was reached. The fear is that of not being able to get close to the minimum threshold already in the first years of the technical cycle, having to then spend large amounts of money for even marginal improvements.
“I don’t think anyone will be able to reach their goal weight. It will be incredibly difficult. I think this needs to be revisited because, for someone who spends their life finding marginal improvements, taking weight off a car is no fun,” he said. said Williams team principal James Vowles.
However, while recognizing that the new rules will lead to a burden of some elements, for the moment the FIA wants to continue on its path, maintaining that reaching the minimum mass target is possible. Furthermore, in all of this, the “minimum” weight for the pilot has also been increased, which has risen from 80 to 82 kg to guarantee greater freedom.
The weight will decrease, but the teams believe it could be a difficult goal to achieve, even at chassis level
Picture of: Giorgio Piola
“We worked on a series of hypotheses based on the work that Jan Monchaux [il direttore tecnico delle monoposto] carried out in collaboration with the teams. We have a number of areas where we know the weight will increase and a number of areas where we know the weight will decrease. What we are aiming for is based on a challenging objective but one that we believe is achievable. Clearly we will continue to ask the teams for weight savings estimates, and we are moving forward in this direction,” Tombazis said in a dedicated press conference.
The use of the Power Unit
As usual, the Power Unit regulations were announced in advance of the chassis regulations, so as to ensure the manufacturers were able to focus on such a difficult and complex project first. However, never before has it been a good idea to announce the chassis regulations later than the engine ones, because the two will be closely connected.
Given that the MGU-H will disappear on the new generation units, the system that currently contributes to powering the MGU-K in addition to the energy that passes through the battery, some doubts immediately emerged regarding the possibilities of continuously powering a more powerful electric motor. On certain very energy-intensive circuits with a high impact on fuel use, complex situations could be faced in order to get to the end of the checkered flag.
For this reason the FIA immediately took action on two different fronts: on the one hand it was thought of artificially limiting the output of the MGU-K above a certain speed threshold, while on the other hand the FIA attempted to compensate by giving greater importance to active aerodynamics. Both the front and rear wings will in fact have two configurations to be used depending on the area of the track: the X-mode, or the low-load one, will only be usable on the straights to reduce drag, while the curve, where greater aerodynamic load is needed.
Honda power unit: the MGU-H will disappear and this means losing a source of energy recovery
Photo credit: Honda
However, the concern is that there is no balance between the two modes. The aerodynamic surfaces of the cars will also be reduced, as will the effectiveness of the surface. This has raised the fear of some teams who have already tested the rules in simulators, according to which straight line speeds will increase significantly, while cornering performance will not be up to par, so much so that the FIA has underlined that it was aiming for a 30% reduction in overall load.
“You need to change how you plan to use PUs. We can still achieve a 50-50 concept, but it can be achieved in a way that doesn’t place most of our requirements on the chassis side, which is then difficult to meet. We need to find a balance between the low cornering speeds and the peak speeds on straights. We are still far from being able to achieve the objectives and intentions sought with the new regulation,” explained Andrea Stella, McLaren TP.
Speaking on this topic, Jan Monchaux underlined that, once the concept is better understood by the teams, in the coming months there will be discussions to refine the regulations, also discussing what the appropriate level of downforce will be. “In the coming months, when the teams will also have done more simulations, we will discuss with them what an adequate level of downforce is, which could be a couple of percentage points higher than the current one, and which should also be quite easy to obtain with means simple on the regulations, as on the fund”.
The basic idea could be to intervene on the bottom to increase the load points: “We could give 20, 25, 30 points more downforce than what is currently foreseen on the bottom. We will still try to have some sort of maximum ceiling, it will be a little higher than what is now in the regulations, but clearly lower than that of the current cars. Cornering speeds in 2026 will be a little slower.”
How wings change with active aerodynamics in 2026
Photo by: Gianluca D’Alessandro
Different rules on different tracks
Although the FIA did not specify it in the statement announcing the 2026 regulations, Nikolas Tombazis explained that realistically there will be different ways of managing some elements during the various events of the season. The teams’ concern, in fact, is that some rules do not work in the way hoped for on all tracks, so there will be different restrictions depending on the track.
A theme that is divided on two fronts, both on the use of extra power for overtaking and on active aerodynamics. As explained by Tombazis, at the moment both the amount of overboost for overtaking maneuvers and the energy extension are identified as two maximum parameters, but these are values that could be modified depending on the characteristics of the tracks. On certain tracks the amount of extra energy may be lower so as not to make overtaking too easy, while on others it will be towards the maximum threshold.
Even on the active aerodynamics front, the rules will be modified based on the circuits, so as not to reach too high speeds. Now with the DRS it is possible to regulate the duration of the area in which the mobile wing can be opened, while with the active aerodynamics it will be possible to intervene on the incidence of the wings, in order to guarantee greater load to reduce the top speed.
“To date, the maximum speed could be higher than the current one. We have heard concerns on the topic, we are aware of it. We will make sure that the maximum speed does not reach levels that constitute a safety problem, we have the means to do this,” Monchaux said.
FIA 2026 F1 car rendering
Photo by: FIA
“We can influence the low drag setup, which consists of opening the rear wing and the front wing, by banning it on a certain straight or reducing how much it can open. Furthermore, it will be possible to think about the use of electricity. We have the possibility, if necessary, to adjust the points we deem necessary. We’re not interested in taking risks and having cars going on the Monaco straight at 380 km/h, it’s absurd and it won’t happen.”
Fast cars little more than an F2
With the 2026 regulation, to meet the energy requirements of the new Power Units, the load will be significantly reduced. But the teams believe that this reduction is far too exaggerated, with the risk that the new generation Formula 1 cars will come dangerously close to the times of preparatory categories such as Formula 2.
It wouldn’t be the first time this has happened: early in the Power Unit cycle, during the 2014 Spanish GP, some bottom-of-the-table F1 cars failed to beat the F2 pole times. The worry is that the gap between the two categories could shrink to a few seconds.
“The difference in performance compared to an F2 car could be a few seconds. And this margin is starting to become a little small, especially if you compare it with other series in the world, said James Vowles, underlining the fears of other team principals. However, the FIA will progressively review the regulations to increase the load, which should widen the gap with the preparatory categories.
“I think the fears are well-founded, but it is clear that, as explained at the beginning, we expect to make some progress in terms of performance. And that’s exactly why we set the bar reasonably low at the start, so that we can develop it collaboratively with the teams, and increasing the load on these cars is actually quite easy. So I understand the comments. I don’t think there’s any fear that these cars aren’t faster than the F2 or anything like that. I believe that the issue will be resolved 100% when we have the definitive regulation,” added Monchaux, attempting to dispel doubts.
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