The FIA has unveiled its first look at the intended technical regulations to be introduced for the 2026 Formula 1 season.
The 2026 season will see the introduction of revised 1.6-litre V6 hybrid power units and also major changes to the cars themselves, which the governing body have detailed publicly for the first time today.Featuring a 30kg minimum weight reduction from the current regulations to 768kg, a wheelbase reduction of 200mm and an overall maximum width reduction of 100mm, the next generation of F1 cars will be lighter, shorter and slimmer than current cars. However they will still be heavier than those raced in 2021.
Formula 1 cars will continue to use ground effect aerodynamics to generate downforce, however overall downforce will be reduced by around 30%. Active aerodynamics will become a major feature of the upcoming cars, with drivers able to change at will between multiple configurations while on track – ‘Z-mode’ for higher downforce and ‘X-mode’ for lower downforce and lower drag. The FIA expect the new cars to have a drag reduction of under half of current levels.
Revisions to ground effect-generating floors, making them flatter and reducing the downforce generated by rear diffusers, are intended to improving ride quality for drivers by encouraging teams away from extremely stiff suspension settings and ultra-low ride heights. Front wings will be narrower than currently by 100mm. The wheel arches introduced in 2022 are to be removed entirely but new compulsory bodywork has been specified to make the wake produced by wheels less disruptive for a chasing car.
F1 will continue to use the 18-inch wheels which were introduced two years ago. However, wheel sizes are being reduced by 25mm on the front axle and 30mm on the rear, which the governing body claims will be achieved without a significant loss of tyre grip.
The sport’s new power units will have far greater power generated – almost 300% more – by electrical components despite the removal of the MGU-H from current specifications and will run on “fully sustainable” fuels. With the removal of the Drag Reduction System, the sport will replace the overtaking aid with a new ‘manual override mode’, which will allow chasing cars the ability to use greater electrical output at speeds above 290kph, while leading cars will have their electrical power gradually reduced once beyond the 290kph mark.
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New safety measures will see revised front crash structure designed to offer more protection in the event of consecutive impacts, as occured in Anthoine Hubert’s fatal Formula 2 accident in 2019. Roll hoops will be strengthened to withstand a load of 20G and will have to pass more stringent testing for approval, following Zhou Guanyu’s roll hoop failure at the start of the British Grand Prix in 2022.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem described the new regulations as marking a “hugely exciting future” for Formula 1.
“Following the publication of 2026 power unit regulations two years ago we have taken the opportunity to redefine the chassis regulations to match the energy requirement of the new power units,” Ben Sulayem said.
“The power unit regulations have already resulted in a record number of power unit manufacturers committing to the sport. And now, in tandem with chassis regulations that provide for lighter, more agile cars featuring innovative aerodynamic solutions, we have created a set of regulations designed to not only improve racing but also to make the championship even more attractive to PU manufacturers, OEMs and existing competitors. The key features of the 2026 F1 regulations are advanced, sustainability technology and safety. Our aim, together with Formula 1, was to produce a car that was right for the future of the sport’s elite category. We believe we have achieved that goal.”
Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said the new regulations were designed to offer fans “closer and exciting racing.”
“The new sustainably-fuelled hybrid power unit presents a huge opportunity for the global automotive industry, the drop-in fuel has the potential to be used by cars around the world and dramatically cut emissions,” said Domenicali. “Its potential is one of the key reasons why we will have a record number of engine suppliers in Formula 1 in 2026.
“We enter this new regulatory cycle with the sport in the strongest position it has ever been, and I am confident that the work done by the FIA to create these regulations will further strengthen the position of the sport around the world.”
The proposed technical regulations will have to be officially confirmed and approved by the World Motor Sport Council at their upcoming meeting on Friday 28th June.
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Pictures: How new F1 cars will look in 2026
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Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
6th June 2024, 14:55
I’m not fond of them making the cars narrower again as I always felt the narrow track cars used from 1998-2016 looked wrong somehow.
I also never felt making them narrower made the racing any better, In fact if you go back to 1998 there was less overtaking compared to the prior season and many drivers said the narrower cars were harder to race with because they produced less drag which resulted in a less effective slipstream effect and therefore made overtaking a lot harder.
And I know aero and the cars in general are very different now but they also complained a lot about the narrow cars been more twitchy under heavy braking which made it far harder to outbrake a car ahead which further hindered overtaking opportunities.
The cars should have been made shorter, That I would agree with but there was little reason to go back to the 1.8m width that we had to suffer through for 2 decades and have only fairly recently got rid of.
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
6th June 2024, 14:59
Completely agree. This industry has hugely short memory.
Wide cars – “No, we need them slimmer to properly race!”
Slim cars – “These look ridiculous and have made no difference”
Wide cars – and repeat….
Patrick (@paeschli)
6th June 2024, 17:21
I prefer ugly cars and good racing than beautiful cars and dreadful races.
Asd
6th June 2024, 15:05
“I always felt the narrow track cars used from 1998-2016 looked wrong somehow.”
TRUE. I don’t even accept them as F1 cars.
I look at the 1990 Ferrari 641 and it’s one of the most beautiful cars ever – it’s 213cm wide. Now we’ve got 200cm wide cars, the same as they were in 1993-1997 after they have been limited down from 220cm. The 200cm is perfect, it’s fine. Although the gigantic tyres already make then look narrower than they are.
190cm is just too close to the abysmal 180cm. It’s F3 car width!
Other ugly features on this:
– The extra wide rear wing.
– The wonky wavy wrong wing. Disgusting.
Good features:
– A classic vertical plates on the rear wing
– No tyre winglets
And lastly, what’s wrong with those fools presenting a blue car on a blue background?!? They’ve done it again!
anon
6th June 2024, 16:45
Asd, so, is anything pre-1975 also an abomination to you, given how narrow those cars were? Would something like a Lotus 49, for example, be considered as unacceptable because that was so narrow (1.88m wide)? Heaven help you if you ever came across something like a Lotus 33 – would that be completely outrageous for being only 1.65m in width?
Is this all because you happened to start watching F1 in the early 1990s and have decided that era looks “right” to you because that’s what you were accustomed to?
Asd
6th June 2024, 18:40
Oh Anon, please, stop making such silly, nonsensical comments. Nonsensical posts like this one ruin any discussion.
The cars pre-1975 were TOTALLY DIFFERENT – and they have NOTHING to do with today’s discussion. They were completely different machines, with totally different standards for everything and anything. Stop being pretentious.
Why do you want to ruin this discussion by assuming that any judgment about today’s cars automatically applies to some other type of cars?
If I say “I love slick tyres”, will you assume I hate off-road cars and Ford Model T? Stop it.
JackL
6th June 2024, 17:35
You’re partially correct. But remember the current cars are the bigger than an S-class sedan, which is enormous. It’ll never look fast and nimble. So while yes, racing and competition werent much better in the late 90s and early noughties, most of that wasnt down to the cars dimensions. There was no question though, that the cars looked amazing on track. They were fast and nimble and stunning.
Personally, I think the cars of 02 and 06-07-08 looked the best on track, and off it, but more than width the length needs to be reduced.
Djangles LeVaughn (@royal-spark)
6th June 2024, 22:48
I share this notion.
’00s Boomers (whom probably never saw a pre-1998 car) on other sites are shrieking over how cars should be no wider than 1.8 metres.
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
6th June 2024, 15:03
This whole thing feels like a hugely unnecessary stop-gap before a proper regs overhaul in 2030. Why are we ploughing more electric in to the regs when it’s clear to see the industry is moving away from it already? Creating problems to provide (rubbish) solutions.
I really hope they re-think this whole thing and bin it.
MoogleSlam
6th June 2024, 16:58
Are you saying you think the world is moving away from electric car sales? 1 in 5 cars sold globally in 2023 was electric, and this was double the total electric car sales from 2021. Many countries have mandates that no fossil fuel cars be sold after a particular year in the not too distant future.
Maybe I misunderstood….
Patrick (@paeschli)
6th June 2024, 17:23
How exactly is the industry moving away from electric cars? EU still has a ban on gas guzzlers from 2035 on and car makers have responded to the slower than expected uptick in EV sales with more hybrids, not with more gas guzzlers.
notagrumpyfan
6th June 2024, 18:27
I totally missed this.
Must have happened during my 15min afternoon nap s/
DaveD (@daved)
7th June 2024, 2:20
Sorry, but that’s a really silly comment. The industry is moving more towards EVs and all the laws in place will continue to go that way.
Deerhunter
7th June 2024, 2:59
Insane comment when the 911 hybrid has been one of the most talked about automotive news in the past week.
schmi (@schmi)
6th June 2024, 15:04
Oh gosh, looks like F2 car.
Miane
6th June 2024, 17:24
And it’ll have the speed of a F2 car…
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
7th June 2024, 4:30
I guess the way to fix that will be to slow down F2 cars.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
6th June 2024, 15:06
Thanks, I hate it.
Only the big smooth brains at the FIA could have listened to nearly 15 years’ worth of fans telling them to get rid of DRS, and decided that what they actually heard was “get rid of DRS and replace it with something worse.”
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
6th June 2024, 15:08
DRS is dead. Long live DOUBLE DRS!
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
6th June 2024, 16:02
Exactly what I thought.
Let’s hope we are wrong……
MichaelN
6th June 2024, 15:10
The cut to MGU output is standard (it’s a linear formula that starts at 300km/h – or apparently now adjusted to 290 km/h).
On the plus side, a driver using said override will more quickly drain the battery, which given the power of the MGU can be quite a considerable disadvantage, depending on the track. At a track like Interlagos there isn’t a whole lot of time to recharge it in the first sector. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see how it’ll work exactly.
MichaelN
6th June 2024, 15:06
I won’t pretend to understand why, but it’s interesting that they’re taking the wheel arches off again. That was touted as a somewhat unsightly but necessary way to address the disrupted airflow around the open wheels.
A bit shorter and narrower seems like a step in the right direction. I never disliked the 1998 cars; probably in part because I was too young to really tell the difference. But even now the early 2000s cars seem fine. It was only in 2009 with that goofy narrow rear-wing that it started to look off to me. I suppose the relative proportions are more important than the actual size, seeing as how we rarely (if ever) see the cars in person.
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
6th June 2024, 15:08
I definitely got 1998 vibes from the overall dimensions/rear wing. Front wing is something out of the mid 00’s.
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
6th June 2024, 15:09
I generally don’t mind the look of this car, but reading up on the regs makes me feel ill. Total unnecessary regs change and potentially a step backwards. Crazy.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
6th June 2024, 17:03
I agree with you pretty much. In fact some of the cars from the late 90s early 2000s are among my favourites. And we must not forget the cars are still wider than those at 1.9 metres instead of 1.8. Probably a good compromise.
I am glad they are shorter and I am glad the front wing is narrower. I don’t understand the active aero enough to know if it will be better or worse than DRS. So this is a concern. I am glad the wheel winglets have gone as well. I always thought they were ugly.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
6th June 2024, 15:26
I know it’s just a generic render but looking at it it just kinda feels more like an F2/F3 car than an F1 car to me & I just struggle to get all that excited about it.
I never especially like the narrower cars before & still don’t like the look of them now based off the render. The 2m wide cars used until 1998 & again since 2017 just looked more proportionally balanced to me as well as just a bit more racey & aggressive.
Also not fond of the higher front wing as again I was never a fan of those before. I always preferred the low noses with the low wings that were basically dragging along the track.
And the flick ups on the front wing end plates seem like they are just going to break quite easily & maybe be more prone to puncture tyres.
Neil (@neilosjames)
6th June 2024, 15:37
For around one season, before the aero folk somehow produce enough magic rabbits that the cars end up with 10% more.
David B
6th June 2024, 15:46
Nothing about the 2026 regs excites me. Get rid of the battery rubbish & go full in on sustainable fuels. Hey presto, cars as light, small & noisy as they were 20yrs ago.
Sham (@sham)
7th June 2024, 6:59
Yep, it seems as if the people with engineering brains just like to make it as complex as possible. I’m all for green technology, but if the fuel is sustainable just get ride of the nonsense that’s been ruining F1.
We don’t want to see cars running out of battery energy and unable to sustain an attack, we don’t want tyres that cause the same problem, and we definitely don’t want DRS.
Keep it simple, keep it agile, keep it exciting.
Cranberry
7th June 2024, 7:26
I largely agree with your statement, but personally do not mind the electric sillyness, as long as it is not overdone.
We are going dangerously close to that in 2026, probably will be overdoing the electricness…
The world of cars is going to hybrids, there’s no stopping it and overdoing it in motorsport is an issue easily resolved, however, just lift the limit of horse power the ICE can produce.
In the vein of sustainable fuels, why is there no talk of having the best most environmentally friendly batteries!? I realize that F1 teams are probably the least likely place to have an issue with proper recycling of these chemical biohazards, but F1 using batteries made from non-toxic materials should be a priority. Bring on the salt!
Coventry Climax
6th June 2024, 16:12
From a previous article:
From this article:
I’ll just repeat my comment:
That is what the FiA is telling everyone and how it’s ‘sold’, but it’s a downright lie.
The energy store (fancy name for battery) can hold an FiA set (sigh), maximum amount (sigh) of energy. Do the calculations, and you’ll find that based on that battery size, on battery alone, the cars wouldn’t even be able to complete a single, full lap, any circuit, and not even at a speed that’s about half of what they do now.
Enter active aero – somewhat diminish energy lost due to air resistance.
Anyway, apart from a possible pre-charged battery at the start of a race, all of the energy to get the cars going around for all those laps, comes from the fuel they carry. Again: All of it, which, in my book of non-commercial speak, equals to 100%.
What’s really happening, is that they’re recuperating even more energy from what was initially burned by the ICE, to be used by electrical motors.
That’s called raising fuel effiency, and not splitting the energy used to 50-50 between fuel and electric.
So in reality, this is a further move to reduce the ICE to the sole function of range extender.
I’ll leave it up to you all to decide whether this is good or bad for a sport called F1.
I have a simple question about it though: Why isn’t the FiA telling you the simple, transparent truth about it?
Coventry Climax
6th June 2024, 16:18
I assume the word wheel is used again to actually indicate an object called ‘rim‘.
Similar to: Please be seated, have a table (instead of chair).
What is meant to say is that the tyre walls are brought down in (radial) dimension?
If I’m wrong about this, somebody please explain?
Bob
6th June 2024, 16:18
Seemingly unlike the other comments, I’m actually pretty excited for these regulations. As long as the engine issues don’t end up being a reality that is, which I have confidence about based on how they’ve changed how the electrical deployment will work.
Yes, this model looks like an F2 car, but the real cars won’t look anything like this. Go look at the original 2022 model and compare it to any of the cars we’ve seen in this set of regulations. It doesn’t looks like any of them. Even more so when the you look at the original version when we thought they’d be the 2021 regs. It looks likes it’ll keep a lot of the good aesthetics from the current cars, while replacing the ugly aspects (especially the front and rear wings) with much better new designs. Just picture this car with the current gen sidepods, a much slimmer nose, and more developed wings. It’ll be great.
Not to mention, a lot of the design changes seem great. Finally it looks like we’ll see in-wash wings returns and the cars will be lighter and not as long which not only improves racing, but also makes the cars look nimbler and more exciting. I think the EV power and active aero will be a better system to DRS, and while it’ll need to be honed it, it’ll hopefully allow for more exciting overtakes even if they’re simple. Sweeping around the outside with more downforce and power might still be too easy, but at least it’ll be more spectacular then breezing by down the straight before the braking zone. Sure, some people here are complaining about narrower cars, but that’ll improve things significantly for narrower circuits like Monaco and Singapore. The detriment will be that there’s less of a draft down the straights which should hopefully be overcome by having low drag aero modes and higher power modes.
Yes, things aren’t guaranteed to be great, and if 1 team nails the regulations, the title fight won’t be particularly exciting. However, these cars seem like they’ll be more beautiful than any of the regs since 2009 and will be even more exciting to watch. We’ll have to see how it goes, but I for one am pretty excited.
Coventry Climax
6th June 2024, 16:20
From what I’ve seen and read sofar, the one thing those new rules will create, is an F1 that’s making an even bigger farcical fool of itself.
Jere (@jerejj)
6th June 2024, 16:43
I wonder what happened to the 40-50 kg target, given the 50-50 electric-ICE power ratio was in the plan from the get-go.
768 kg is coincidently the figure initially chosen for the current-generation regs.
DaveD (@daved)
7th June 2024, 2:43
I’m embarrassed for them on this front. They could have easily cut another 20kg by going back to tyres from the previous regs. I don’t care about an F1 car having tyres that “look like road cars”.
They could have also made the cars a good foot shorter and shaved more weight.
Frankly, the whole thing is silly. I’m a green, tree-hugging nut, but all this energy efficiency is a silly greenwashing effort. There’s no point in doing the hybrid anymore. The path F1 is heading towards is to be 80% Formula E in the 2030 regs. Just go with a naturally aspirated V8 and let’s get smaller, lighter cars. All this “efficiency” crap when the people traveling to see the race spew out more CO2 than the cars in the race could ever dream of.
Nest thing you know, they’ll try to put hybrids on horses to make them more “green” for horse racing. This is so stupid.
Formula E will do all the EV work and the batteries over there get 10% lighter and 10% more powerful every year. Simple math tells you they’ll pass up F1 in performance within 7-8 years….especially when you consider they can have All Wheel Drive.
This is a losing battle and F1 needs to change course soon.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
6th June 2024, 17:47
All these changes whatever they may be will play right into Newey’s hand :-)
Coventry Climax
6th June 2024, 18:31
But no news yet as to where he goes – if that destination is even actually an F1 team.
He may still call it quits, spend time with his family and design boats, for all we know sofar.
Jason Blankenship (@jblank)
6th June 2024, 18:01
I’m fine with making them lighter but what they’re doing with the power units in these cars is poor for the sport.
FlyingLobster27
6th June 2024, 19:02
Maybe not so popular opinion here: I like the look of these cars.
FINALLY we have properly proportioned front and rear wings. The front wing might be a bit on the narrow side, but at least it isn’t wider than the car any more. Also, less of the styling cues that were mandated since 2017 just because they looked cool: the arrow front wing, the slanted rear wing, the swooshy endplates… They were trying too hard to look futuristic for the sake of it and the current F2 car exaggerates those traits – that rear wing looks daft.
Re some above comments about the narrow track era: I see why some people were put off by them, given the proportions they were used to. We saw that in LMP1 in 2014 too – the cars were fine, just not as awesome-looking as a 2011-2013 Audi R18. But I most assiduously watched F1 in the late 90s and 2000s, so to me, this is what a decent F1 car looked like growing up.
And that’s the downside of this design: it doesn’t look new. It’s a McLaren MP4/20 with a halo and a ground effect floor. It looks OK, but not revolutionary, and maybe that’s the point.
Salty (@salty)
6th June 2024, 19:27
Okay, DRS maybe an artificial overtaking device, but at least a fan willing to hoof out hundreds of Euros/Dollars/Riyal, can see the DRS flap open on the straight when a car made it within a second in the DRS detection zone.
Some invisible, computer controlled, electronic boost doesn’t set my heart racing, nor have me reaching for my wallet (sorry MOM!). Having said that, I really don’t want Liberty adding flares or neon to cars when the rubbish thing is engaged/deployed. So quite probably I should put a sock in it and not give them ideas.
Oh, and the 10cm and 37Kg are pointless. Take 150 or 200cm off. AND 100KG – give these world beating designers a challenge. But DO give them the freedom to be creative or F1 is just another prosaic exhibition of limiting great drivers *coughMonacocough*
Maybe the racing will be amazing, but I seriously doubt it.
Mr A
6th June 2024, 19:27
Looks good!!
Proper square rear wings instead of the hideous melted vase we have now. Retro. Front wing looks much nicer, and they got rid of those awful wheel arch things.
Also, thinner and shorter can only be better.
The only thing I don’t like is the halo, and the moveable aero.
JoshJ81
6th June 2024, 20:59
Sweet, a proper nod the 2004 cars! BRAVO 2026!
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
6th June 2024, 22:08
people who think highly of themselves designing hoops for people who have to work for a living. this is what f1 has turned into, a drama which seeks mass approval of rule following and banning.
stefano (@alfa145)
6th June 2024, 22:10
I don’t know, looks like F2 to me
Tristan
6th June 2024, 23:00
Wow the complaining here…
Smaller and lighter cars are very much needed, what on earth are people going on about.
Coventry Climax
6th June 2024, 23:42
Well, come ’26, it’ll be just another season of ‘My 600 lbs life’; that’s what people are going on about.
I’ll confess I just come across that show when zapping, and I’ve never even seen more than a couple seconds of any one episode: Too gross for me.
So I have no idea how the episodes end, might very well be they loose a lot more weight than F1 cars?
DaveD (@daved)
7th June 2024, 3:07
My complaint is they didn’t go small enough or light enough. They should have cut another 18 inches off the length and another 6 inches off the width. They should have gone back to the 13″ tyres to reduce the weight of both the tyres and all the suspension that has to make up for the lack of built in resilience in those older tyres.
They could have easily cut 100kg if they’d have made those simple changes.
JohnS
7th June 2024, 4:55
With more electrical energy, I doubt the cars will be lighter. Batteries are heavy and do not generate energy, or store it.
with movable aero, this means the Newey car will dominate for 4 years, because there are so many changes, some one is going to get it right, someone is going to get it really wrong. My bet is on Newey to get it right.
Also, I think they cant start working on these cars until 2025. so even more pressure.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
7th June 2024, 7:37
While I like the idea of adjustable aerodynamics, but when it comes to the engine I’m left with the impression the FIA’s marketing department was given free license to write the engineering spec. I am left with the impression they’re aiming to increase the cost of the already exorbitantly expensive engines. 300% means three times. Producing 3 times the power from an engine which already costs millions of dollars basically means increasing the cost by lots more.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
7th June 2024, 8:02
F1 has a flat set of design rules. The design rules for the fastest car are the same as for the slowest car. Okay, there are restrictions on the amount of aerodynamic testing a team has, which do vary, but apart from that the rules are the same for each team. If a driver happens to run off and leave everyone else behind then the onus is on everyone else to put in more effort to catch that leading driver. This is why F1 is the premier open wheel racing series. Every team is chasing the one which has most successfully applied the rules. So the idea of suddenly applying the brakes (or similar) to the leading car simply because they are leading should be considered an anathema.
tielemst
7th June 2024, 10:23
I’m not sure if I read this correctly, but is the driver now able/required to adjust his front and rear wing for every corner he approaches?