HOW THE NEW REGULATIONS CHANGES THE COURSE OF FORMULA ONE
Now that the 2025 Formula 1 season is over, focus shifts to 2026 and the reasons it will be a crucial year for the sport.
What's going on in Formula One 2026?
A lot. The power unit, chassis, and aerodynamic standards will all be significantly altered as part of a comprehensive revamp of the technical regulations. To put it mildly, the cars will be extremely different.
There's a good chance that new F1 car design regulations will upend the hierarchy. The new rules are the "biggest changes ever" in the sport, according to Martin Brundle of Sky Sports F1.
Since the rules will be in effect for five seasons, the teams have been working on their 2026 vehicles for a long time. You'll be competitive in the years to come if you start being swift next year. For instance, Mercedes' supremacy in 2014 persisted until 2016, when Ferrari and Red Bull eventually overtook them.
What are the power units changing?
With an almost 300% boost in electrical power and a 50/50 balance between electric and internal combustion engines, F1's new power units will rely more on electrical energy.
The 1.6-litre V6 turbo engine that has been in use since 2014 remains the same, but everything surrounding it has altered, including the MGU-H's departure.
All of this indicates that the greatest and poorest power units will probably differ from one another. Particularly in the early races, anticipate fluctuating power levels and the return of unpredictability. "It's very hard to just say it's about crank power, or battery, or heat rejection," stated Andy Cowell, chief strategy officer of Aston Martin and a key figure in Mercedes' leading turbo-hybrid power unit.
"These parameters are all exchanged. To create the fastest race car, concessions must be made. And the introduction point is still some months away.
"I suppose that every technical team is thinking, 'Ah, there are all these performance possibilities,' when they examine what they have. How can we enter those?
"After that, there would be several dependability problems; how can we resolve them? Because you're demanding both performance and dependability, the supply chain will be screaming. You simply work extremely hard, and every minute of every day matters.
Audi will enter the grid when they acquire Sauber, Honda will continue to compete, and Ford will supply engines in collaboration with Red Bull Powertrains as a result of the regulations, which will still have some influence on the road. Six power unit manufacturers—Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault, Honda, Audi, and Red Bull Powertrains—are credited by the FIA with entering the sport as a result of the revised engine regulations.
Red Bull, which established Red Bull Powertrains in 2021 with assistance from Ford, will be manufacturing its own engines for the first time in 2026, which may be the biggest change. Starting in 2026, Red Bull Ford Powertrains will be operated by Red Bull's junior squad, Racing Bulls. Following Honda's initial decision to withdraw from Formula One after 2021, both teams currently use Honda-supported power units. As they start their first season in Formula One, Audi will also be thrown into the deep end, but they will benefit from having the majority of the same staff from the existing Sauber team.
Given the strength of the Honda engine over the past five years, there is a lot of enthusiasm around Aston Martin's 2026 prospects as Honda will replace Red Bull and Racing Bulls as their only supplier. A fresh entry before they aim to have their own engine, Cadillac will continue to employ Ferrari gearboxes and power units until at least the end of 2028.
With the introduction of other options, DRS is no longer used.
"Overtake Mode" will take the place of DRS starting in 2026. This mode will provide a driver with additional power if they are within one second of another vehicle at the detection point on a track. This can be used in several shorter boosts over the course of a lap or all at once.
The vehicles will also include "Active Aero"—movable front and rear wings—which will enable drivers to reduce drag and boost top speeds on straightaways during specific lap segments. You are not required to be within a specific distance of another vehicle to use this at any time inside the designated zones. Additionally, the drivers will have access to "Boost Mode," which they can employ at any time during a lap by pressing a button to activate the engine's and battery's maximum power, which will consist of 50% electrical power. This will resemble the KERS system used in Formula One from 2009 to 2013.
According to Formula One, the new car will give drivers "more power in their hands than ever before" because they will have to learn how to maximise the car's lap time in both wheel-to-wheel battles and qualification.
How is the racing going to go?
The final question is this one. A "lift and coast" component will probably be present so that the drivers can recover energy and use it for longer acceleration times at a greater power.
Up to 220 mph, the MGU-K power unit element will continue to provide a maximum 350kW of power. Since drivers can use more power throughout a lap, the best power units will likely have the best MGU-K. However, lifting and coasting may be necessary to maximise the MGU-K's performance to drive an ideal racing stint, which will produce some intriguing race circumstances.
We may witness drivers from a great distance behind abruptly going down the inside of the car in front if one driver is lifting into braking zones while another is not. "Look at Formula E as a more extreme version of where we're going to go," stated Alex Albon, a driver for Williams. You may observe how drivers manage qualifying and racing, as well as how they use various tactics to improve their performance. "It's not going to be that extreme, but there will be an element of the drivers who have the brain capacity to understand and facilitate all these demands will go well."
The upgrades the teams made to their cars for the 2025 season made overtaking more challenging and made it harder to follow. Similar to what we witnessed in 2022 when Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc engaged in thrilling clashes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the season, adhering to the new restrictions should be considerably simpler in 2026.
"I think you will see more overtakes next year, but more overtakes in obscure locations—in locations where we've never seen overtakes before," Mercedes driver George Russell stated.
"If a driver's at the bottom of their battery, and the one behind has more battery, in a given section of the track, they can suddenly jump past them at a corner in the past where there would never be an overtake."
Regarding the override itself, we have previously stated that we prefer not to witness pure DRS overtakes. The 2026 regulations, in my opinion, will provide better racing.
What is the anticipated speed of the vehicles?
Depending on the features of the course, it is anticipated that the new vehicles will be about two seconds slower than the 2025 cars.
Isack Hadjar, a driver with Racing Bulls, stated that the cars would be "closer to an F2," though it was unclear if he meant handling or speed. Any remarks regarding Formula 2 speed, according to FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis, are "way off the mark".
"We are talking about lap times, overall, which are in the region of one or two seconds off where we are now, depending on the track, depending on the conditions," Tombazis stated.
It would be absurd to start a cycle faster than the one before. From a regulatory perspective, it would cost us nothing, and it would be extremely simple to accelerate the vehicles. However, the benefits of natural development must be gradually recouped. Therefore, you cannot begin a cycle that is faster than the prior one. You can only imagine what would occur in twenty years."
"It's natural that the cars are a bit slower, but I don't think we are anywhere near the 'it's not a Formula 1' discussion in any way or shape."
Budget cap increases, eco-friendly gasoline, and smaller vehicles and tyres
The 2026 vehicles will have a wheelbase of 3.4 meters and a width of 1.9 meters, although they will be 20 centimetres shorter and 10 centimetres wider. Additionally, the car's weight has been lowered by 30 kg to 768 kg. The racing should benefit from these new measurements as well.
Additionally, Pirelli has narrowed its tyres by 2.5 cm in the front and 3 cm in the back, while maintaining the 18-inch diameter. In today's Formula One, tyres are crucial to a car's performance. It will take a few races for the teams to figure out how to make the most of the new rubber. What does tyre deterioration look like? On an out lap, how much do you push? Is the tyre more vulnerable to warmer surfaces? For each of the C1, C2, C3, C4, and C5 compounds, the teams will need to respond to a few questions.
As F1 continues to strive for net-zero carbon by 2030, every team will run 100% sustainable fuel from non-food sources or waste, another area that could be a performance differentiator. F1 has had a budget cap since 2021; by 2023, it had dropped to $135 million (£102 million), which was the cap for 2025. However, the FIA has increased the cost restriction to $215 million (£159.6 million) due to the expense of producing new vehicles.
"The biggest challenge is probably starting from scratch on everything—new tyres, new fuel, new engine, new chassis, new sporting regulations, new everything," stated Frederic Vasseur, principal of the Ferrari team. It's very difficult. But in some way, this kind of challenge is also ingrained in our sport. Avoid criticising the show too soon. Next year, we'll see how things stand.