What’s got drivers so agitated about “strange” 2026 F1 cars?

“At the moment [in the 2026 regulations] there are some challenges that aren’t necessary and won’t add to the competition or the spectacle that I do think need to be changed,” said McLaren’s Oscar Piastri ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of challenges that come with that, and a lot of them are going to be exciting and points of difference, and points where you can have an advantage or a disadvantage. But I think there are some things that need to be changed that don’t constitute a benefit for anybody.”

Hesitancy over the 2026 Formula 1 regulations, which centre around a 50:50 split of electrical and conventional internal combustion power, is in itself nothing new. Fears emerged last year of the electrical power potentially being expended too early for full deployment on the straights, leading to a rethink of the mechanical package – including active drag-reduction aerodynamics.

But the topic has returned to the top of the agenda in recent weeks after Charles Leclerc described a sim run in Ferrari’s 2026 model in June as “not enjoyable”, and Lance Stroll harrumphed that the whole concept was nothing more than a “battery science project”.

There are two key areas of concern: firstly that the cars themselves will not be significantly lighter than the present generation, and their narrower chassis and wheels will result in less grip and downforce – and, therefore, lower cornering speeds. The prediction is for a downforce reduction up to 30%; in reality, given the intelligence and creativity of F1’s engineering corps, it’s more likely to be in the order of 20% or less.

The other angst generator is the more complex energy-management requirements of the next-generation powertrains, in which the electrical element will deliver 350 kilowatts rather than the present figure of 120kW, but the charging (up to 8.5 megajoules per lap) and storage capacity is limited. Drivers fear they will have to spend half the lap twiddling switches on the steering wheel, a process they regard as footling.

In response to drivers’ early misgivings, the FIA has adjusted the technical regulations to embrace a so-called ‘turn-down ramp rate’ which will taper the power delivery before the available charge runs out at tracks with high energy requirements. The sporting regulations also now enshrine a sliding scale of permitted energy harvesting depending on the venue, rather than the fixed amount of 8.5MJ per lap.

This latter tweak came in response to fears that at tracks with low demand for braking, the only way to harvest 8.5MJ over a lap would be to brake or lift-and-coast on the straights – a ridiculous spectacle as well as a potential safety issue. The cap will now be as low as 5MJ at some venues.

“It’s going in the right direction,” conceded Leclerc in Spa. “And hopefully, because it’s very, very different to what we are used to.

“As drivers, there will be a lot of things we’ll have to forget from whatever we’ve learned in our career, to start again from a blank page. And that’s a little bit strange because having done this sport since I’m four years old, to be having to erase some things of my muscle memory would be a little bit strange.

“But it’s part of the game. And in itself, it’s a challenge to try and reinvent the rules and find some performance in other things. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to the challenge, but it’s very different.”

FIA single-seater Nikolas Tombazis told Autosport earlier this year: “Drivers naturally evaluate preliminary versions of cars when things are being developed and they get maybe a snapshot of something they’re not used to.

Tombazis reckons some driver dissatisfaction is inevitable

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“And they can jump to conclusions a bit early. Generally speaking, a driver will never step out of a car of a certain regulation cycle and into a new car with, say, less downforce, and say, ‘Well, I like it.’”

The current simulations suggest overall lap times will not be much slower than at present, since the cars will have a very different performance envelope. While they will be slower through corners because of lower grip and downforce levels, the narrower chassis and active aero will likely contribute to higher top speeds.

It’s also likely the greater percentage of electrical deployment will enable the car to accelerate out of corners faster.

All in all, it will require drivers to adopt a new approach and in some cases – as Leclerc alluded – be forced to abandon years of accumulated experience. Indubitably some will acclimatise faster than others, which accounts for some of the motivation behind the complaints.

But Formula 1 has always required drivers to change and adapt as technology evolves.

When Giuseppe Farina won the inaugural drivers’ championship 75 years ago, he did so in a front-engined car with drum brakes and a wood-rimmed steering wheel, sitting with his legs astride the transmission tunnel, the propshaft and differential buzzing away under his neatly upholstered seat. He wore no safety harness because the prevailing orthodoxy was that in the event of an accident it was safer to be thrown from the car.

Viewing this car spec, Renault test driver Ferenc Szisz, winner of the 1906 French Grand Prix in an AK 90CV with brakes on just one axle, actuated by a lever and cable, would doubtless have instructed his riding mechanic to “tiens ma biere”.

This is very much Lewis Hamilton’s take on the subject of the new regulations.

“This next step, I would say, probably the driver has even more input into the development, particularly of the power unit and how you use the power,” he said at Spa.

Hamilton has been quite philosophical about 2026 changes and relishes the engineering challenge

Photo by: Erik Junius

“I don’t really want to shut it down, because maybe things will be good. Let’s see when we get into the next season.

“It could go either way it could be good, it could be not so good. But only time will tell.

“What I love is that while we’re fighting this season in this championship, we’re also having to develop the current car – and then the next car. And that, for me, is fascinating. If we were just with the same car all the time, evolving on a very small gradient, it just would not be anywhere near as fun.”

Fear of the new isn’t limited to the driver corps. It’s significant that the first tests next January will be conducted behind closed doors at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, a stark contrast from the televised come-one-come-all affairs of recent years.

F1 doesn’t want a repeat of the porpoising fiasco that afflicted the current generation of cars. Or indeed the first tests in the hybrid era, when the Renault-engined machines could barely manage a single lap.

But, once out in the open, a meritocracy will emerge. As they say, when the flag drops the you-know-what stops.

“I think as drivers, we’ll just adapt to whatever they give us,” said Carlos Sainz.

“We’ll just go as fast as we can. If we have to do six or seven switch changes through a lap, we’ll do them.

“And we’ll just become good at it like we always do.”