Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has expressed doubt teams will be able to achieve the lower minimum weight limit set by the FIA for the 2026 Formula 1 season.
The limit is set to fall next year following over 15 years of increases which have pushed it from 605 kilograms to 800kg. The FIA originally announced next year’s limit will be 768kg but Horner does not consider the goal realistic.“A number was plucked out of the air for car weight,” he said in yesterday’s FIA press conference. “We’ve got engines that are significantly heavier and a car weight that has become lower. So it will be an enormous challenge for every team to achieve it.”
The FIA subsequently changed the minimum weight limit for 2026 to account for variations in tyre weight. In grands prix next year it will be set at 724kg plus the ‘Nominal Tyre Weight’. This new value will be defined after pre-season testing next year when Pirelli weighs samples of its new, smaller tyres.
F1 is considering whether to require teams to use steel instead of titanium for their skid blocks, after multiple trackside fires were caused by sparks during race weekends at Suzuka this year and Shanghai last year.
“Saving weight costs a colossal amount of money,” said Horner. “There was a discussion last week about introducing steel skids – maybe that would warrant adding five kilos to the minimum weight.
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“It is what it is, it’s the same for everybody. There will be choices teams make to hit the weight, because weight is free lap time. Every 10 kilos is about 0.35 seconds. But it will be very challenging for all teams to get down to minimum weight.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff agreed the reduction will be difficult to achieve but said the goal of making the cars lighter was a worthwhile one.
“Like Christian said, you make choices as a team. How much lap time do you attribute to weight and ballast? Where do you want to save?
“You may compromise other performance parts if you want to reduce your weight, or the opposite. It is challenging.
“The reason we’re doing it is to make the cars more nimble. Is that something that was important? I think it was. We’ve got to start somewhere. That initial step is difficult, but it’s the same for everyone.”
Other team principals have previously warned the weight limit cut will be hard to achieve. The FIA’s single seater director Nikolas Tombazis said last year the reduction is a “feasible target”.
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*Assuming a Nominal Tyre Mass of 44kg. The 2026 limit is 2kg higher in qualifying sessions
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roadrunner (@roadrunner)
3rd May 2025, 12:30
Is there really the need for a weight limit at all?
We have the cost cap to prevent the teams from building super expensive but super light parts and we have so many crashtests to ensure the structural integrity of the cars and their safety.
Just impose a minimum weight for driver plus seat. Probably the cars will get smaller too.
chimaera2003 (@chimaera2003)
3rd May 2025, 13:02
@roadrunner Weight serves as a good way to moderate/control the speed of the cars, otherwise the cars would outgrow the safety features of the circuits and be effectively unraceable.
But I agree that the cost cap and mandatory safety tests will prevent the development of disproportionately expensive weight reduction ideas by definition.
I’m actually quite open to having a sensible, but likely unachievable weight limit to open up more areas for constructor differentiation.
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd May 2025, 13:20
I also think that FIA should only impose a driver weight limit & otherwise allow teams the free to run as light as physically possible, even if that meant relatively considerable disparity between some teams due to differing abilities to get as much down as possible with the combined car+driver weight, but so be it because competition simply means that some are better than others at achieving the same things.
However, cars wouldn’t necessarily get smaller per se if FIA only imposed a minimum weight limit for drivers plus the seat or at least I struggle to see a direct correlation between these two aspects.
MichaelN
3rd May 2025, 17:02
Probably not in F1, where a cost cap disincentivizes spending on weight reduction and crash tests ensure safety standards are met. In other series, where these are not present, or there isn’t the type of comprehensive governance and technical oversight F1 has, it’s probably the best and simplest way to prevent overspending and sacrificing safety.
baasbas
3rd May 2025, 13:03
Good. Push those teams. Open up the rules so we can see more variety. The heavy hitters, they have an advantage on Monza style tracks. And the plucky featherweights, that dance through the Monaco style tracks. And everything in between.
And then think about other design area’s that are so restrictive, that they are basically forcing 1 solution everyone has to follow. The good things should be: opening up more design options but with a strict budget cap, it will be interesting what the teams will do. They can’t excel in all area’s. And that will probably make it interesting for the viewers
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd May 2025, 13:17
So what if teams initially struggle to reach 768 kg?
That’d be their problem rather than FIA’s & even if they initially struggle, I’m sure they’d eventually reach it anyway.
His claim about engines being significantly heavier seems exaggerated, given only the battery size will be increased, not to mention all the areas that will physically shave off weight will together have a greater impact on the overall weight than the battery alone.
Cars will be narrower & shorter, which automatically equals lighter, fuel tank size should get lower since synthetic fuel type allows for quite considerably lower fuel loads within the 70-80 kg range, tyres will be narrower & therefore lighter, a switch to 6-speed gearbox type (unless this plan has changed) could mean at least marginally lighter gearbox, MGU-H removal also has a marginally positive impact, & lower downforce means teams can design parts to be lighter as an added bonus.
Btw, I was unaware of that separate 724 kg limit reference.
SteveR (@stever)
3rd May 2025, 13:53
Yep, it is the teams’ problem, but there are some things mandated by the technical rules that could be changed to help reduce weight, and one of those is the engine minimum weight and c.g. Also, Horner’s comment that steel skid plates would add 5 kg. seems a bit … exaggerated.
BasCB (@bascb)
3rd May 2025, 18:53
I guess it pointss to where RB is struggling with their power train and car. As Wolf points out, it is up to the teams to create the best car inside the parameters set.
Alesici
3rd May 2025, 14:27
Allow me to translate for everyone:
Horner just found out that the 2026 red bull engine is heavier than their current Honda, even though next year’s battery capacity is the same, and they’re removing the mgu-h.
If they’re struggling to meet the limit, maybe they should remove the empty spacer behind the gearbox, and shorten the car (albeit at the cost of floor area).
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
3rd May 2025, 15:33
Did they pick the number out of thin air or is it proportional to the change in width and length of the cars?
Rob (@standbyexp)
3rd May 2025, 15:56
Horndog putting a shift in recently slagging off the new regs. Both the PU and chassis side. I’m looking forward to them having the 9th fastest car next year.
osnola
3rd May 2025, 18:54
So not a sportsfan.. not sure why you visit sites like these then.
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
3rd May 2025, 16:01
This has been bugging me for years. It’s a minimum limit. If you’re well over it, tough luck, but there is no maximum limit you have to hit.
MichaelN
3rd May 2025, 16:45
So what if it’s hard or costs money to reduce weight? It also costs money to develop new aerodynamic components. It’s what the cost cap is all about: keep costs under control while allowing teams to make their own choices as to how to spend it.
These F1 teams each spend enough to basically run the entire Indycar grid, or three to four WEC teams. It’s laughable to see them still moan about having to make difficult choices.
nunof
3rd May 2025, 18:24
Music to my ears! RB22 will be a fat lady