Formula One cars are now as fast as they have ever been but the make up of how they achieve their lap time has changed significantly. The sheer size and weight of the modern cars mean it is positively sluggish through slow corners when compared to some of its predecessors now twenty years old.

Much of this is due to the monster V6 Turbo hybrids introduced back in 2014 and were never intended to last more than eight years but a number of road blocks has meant the next big power unit change will come twelve years after their debut. Of course the FIA never build full scale models of the cars or engines when they design big regulation changes and in the case of the V6 power units, the manufacturers argued they had invested so much in their R&D they wanted a long er life than was originally agreed.

 

 

New F1 power unit fail

Having failed to get the new power units off the ground for 2021, the FIA then proposed a huge change in car design for 2022 – there biggest in living memory as some have described.

The shift towards ground effect cars which derive around half of their downforce from low pressure air flow underneath the car was envisaged to make overtaking less difficult.

By removing a lot of the aerodynamic impact from the top of the car, it is easier for drivers to follow more closely and overtakes have increased.

Yet the cars are still too bulky, much of this is due to the hybrid power units which superseded the classic sounding V8 engines.

FIA consider more freedom in technical regulations

 

 

 

V6 turbo hybrid wins out

For 2026, a number of voices called for a return to the V6 engines with sustainable fuel, but they were seen off by those who believed hybrid at the time was the future for automobile manufacturers.

This means F1 will be hybrid powered for at least the next decade and so the FIA is now looking at other ways to bring about change in the sport.

Along with new hybrid power units, the 2026 regulations will see significant changes in the cars. They will be shorter (by 20cm) and narrower (by 10cm) and the wheels are likely to be reduced to a diameter of 16 inches.

All this should help to reduce the weight from around the 800kg mark which is the current level. Yet noises from the FIA suggest the weight reduction will be smaller than many hope for with Nikolas Tombazis now suggesting this could be around 40-50kg.

Verstappen reveals what cost Red Bull the “perfect season”

 

 

 

Ban on early 2026 design start

Whilst broad principals for the 2026 chassis have been stated, the FIA is yet to reveal much of how the cars will look and handle. In what some believe is an attempt to prevent Red Bull stealing a march on the field, the teams have been banned from testing aero concepts for the 2026 cars before Jan 1 2025.

“We aim to have a significantly lower weight limit, and we are looking to reduce the weight limit by 40 to 50 kilos in 2026,” said Tombazis.

“The way we want to do that is related to what we’ve termed the ‘nimble car’ concept, because we basically feel that in recent years the cars have become a bit too bulky and too heavy.”

However, another target is to reduce the downforce still further again improving the overtaking capabilities as the ground effect style of car will remain.

Mercedes propose “bans” for 2024

 

 

 

Closer racing with more overtakes

“It will mean less load on parts, and that will mean teams will not have to make things so beefy,” adds Tombazis.

“This lower downforce means that a lot of the loading on components, such as suspension, will reduce and that will enable the teams to reduce the weight consequentially.”

The gains the FIA made in overtaking during the first year of the ground effect F1 cars went backwards in 2023. Demands for the sport’s governing body to regulate bouncing out of the car design lead to the cars running higher creating more dirty air.

That said Tombazis believes this concept is in its early stages and “we think we understand why [this year was a backward step], how and what we need to do.

“We believe that for the next round [of rules in 2026] we’ll achieve a much more robust close racing solution.”

Key moment early 2023 in Verstappen success revealed

 

 

 

5 seconds slower ‘not a problem’

By reducing downforce the cars will lap more slowly as they lose grip travelling through the corners. Yet the FIA is not concerned about lap times as Tombazis suggests:

“I think we’re going to be within a couple of seconds or something like that. But even if it was five seconds slower, we’re not going to be sweating too much.”

The rule changes in F1 have forever slowed down the cars given the space race amongst the teams would see them ever quicker each season. Yet 5 seconds feels like a significant amount which should be noticeable to even the untrained eye and could be a bridge too far.

Red Bull expressed concerns over the new power units because they are to become more reliant on electrical power than previously.

Newey Red Bull era to end says Horner

 

 

 

Red Bull ‘disaster scenario’

The battery element will jump from 150kw to 350kw and make up around half of the total power output. Red Bull claimed their simulations suggested on the longer straights, drivers would reach their top speed half way along and then need to change a gear down to charge up the battery again.

“These were comments that were probably a bit premature, because we hadn’t completed the work yet,” says Tombazis.

“We never believed that was a disaster scenario, because we knew that there were solutions.

“We believe that the combination of low drag on the cars, with the way that energy can be recovered or deployed, achieves a speed profile of these cars which is very similar to the current cars.

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No ‘reverse DRS’

“So the cars won’t be reaching the top speed in the middle of the straight and then degrading or anything like that. That’s not going to be the case.”

To prevent the Red Bull disaster scenario form occurring Tombazis suggests there could be “tweaks on the energy side” made for circuits like Monza and Spa.

Yet the topic of moveable aerodynamics which are to be allowed is as yet vague, but Tombazis confirms there will be not artificial slowing down of the car in front as some were concerned may happen with a front wing reverse DRS being deployed.

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