Are 2026 F1 regulations broken? How to fix them?

[SB15]

Seems like Max, Alonso and Lewis were just saying what everyone knows. McLaren have now officially come out and asked for what sounds like some pretty material changes. Lowering the MGU-K deployment cap in the race and increasing the superclipping harvesting limit would seem like huge changes to push through this late in the game. Teams would have to throw out all the calibration and mapping they've done for the current limits and start from scratch to build new race only maps. What Andrea Stella is saying about the lack of energy and the impossibility of overtaking is really damning.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mcla ... on-opener/

What's pretty damning is that if you deploy around 30% or 40% consistently through the lap on every turn and straight, you'll be much quicker... and also you don't have to worry about the battery being almost depleted doing so. I agree with Mclaren, it's a necessary change.

[Hoffman900]

Seems like Max, Alonso and Lewis were just saying what everyone knows. McLaren have now officially come out and asked for what sounds like some pretty material changes. Lowering the MGU-K deployment cap in the race and increasing the superclipping harvesting limit would seem like huge changes to push through this late in the game. Teams would have to throw out all the calibration and mapping they've done for the current limits and start from scratch to build new race only maps. What Andrea Stella is saying about the lack of energy and the impossibility of overtaking is really damning.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mcla ... on-opener/

Yellistener on Youtube already talked about closing speeds approaching 60km/h, and that is very, very dangerous.

These closing speeds exist in mixed class sportscar / endurance racing…

[AR3-GP]

These closing speeds exist in mixed class sportscar / endurance racing…

In those categories, the slower cars have rear view cameras that track and alert the slower driver to the fast approaching cars from behind.

[Hoffman900]

These closing speeds exist in mixed class sportscar / endurance racing…

In those categories, the slower cars have rear view cameras that track and alert the slower driver to the fast approaching cars from behind.

https://i.redd.it/4d3in8g40hz61.png

Only in the last few years.

People did it forever without. Even in amatuer racing we see closing speeds that big in run groups with nothing but mirrors and non pro racers. You’d be shocked to know they put Formula Atlantics out there with Formula Fords and have for decades.

At a vintage event, we made changes to car (an old Triumph - fastest of its kind in the country) and did a “hardship session” that included an Audi R8 (LMP900).

[AR3-GP]

These closing speeds exist in mixed class sportscar / endurance racing…

In those categories, the slower cars have rear view cameras that track and alert the slower driver to the fast approaching cars from behind.

https://i.redd.it/4d3in8g40hz61.png

Only in the last few years.

This tech has been in the GT cars since 2010 or so. Yes you can "do without them" and you'll have more accidents without them. Fork found in kitchen

[continuum16]

I agree with Mclaren in what they are requesting, they should do that absolutely to avoid a real --- show at the first race...

I'd rather see F1 with egg on its face. No one will learn otherwise. You cannot make rules pandering to faceless corporations with agendas that having nothing to do with racing! I will stop short of naming a specific PU manufacturer who is wholly to blame for these shameful PU regulations.

I agree. Let Stefano and Tombazis and MBS and all involved face the damn music. People told them for years this formula wouldn’t work, and they ignored them. Bailing them out last minute would be a crime. I hope Melbourne is a disaster, as long as nobody gets hurt. Jeddah, a track with basically two braking zones, will be even worse.

Hopefully FOM, the FIA, and [redacted German manufacturer] have a great time going down with the ship like it’s April 1912.

[johnnycesup]

Let them race ffs. Mercedes got us in this situation by refusing front axle harvesting.

If they can't recover energy as well as RBPT, and can't spool the turbo as quick as Ferrari, let them lose then!

[peewon]

I agree with Mclaren in what they are requesting, they should do that absolutely to avoid a real --- show at the first race...

I'd rather see F1 with egg on its face. No one will learn otherwise. You cannot make rules pandering to faceless corporations with agendas that having nothing to do with racing! I will stop short of naming a specific PU manufacturer who is wholly to blame for these shameful PU regulations.

I agree. Let Stefano and Tombazis and MBS and all involved face the damn music. People told them for years this formula wouldn’t work, and they ignored them. Bailing them out last minute would be a crime. I hope Melbourne is a disaster, as long as nobody gets hurt. Jeddah, a track with basically two braking zones, will be even worse.

Hopefully FOM, the FIA, and [redacted German manufacturer] have a great time going down with the ship like it’s April 1912.

I dont think MBS is aligned. They clearly want him out. Why do you think some reporter was digging up some vague quote from an archived blog from 2001? He was also blamed for meddling in overturning Alonso's penalty at '23 Saudi GP and we know Alonso is Mercedes enemy no.1. Toto, his wife and their crony media partners have tried quite a bit to drag him into controversies to make his position untenable.

But they clearly have some alignment with the FIA because they get their way on literally every TD, rule changes, penalties, etc. and have done so since Brawn sold them the team and brought them in.

[SB15]

I'd rather see F1 with egg on its face. No one will learn otherwise. You cannot make rules pandering to faceless corporations with agendas that having nothing to do with racing! I will stop short of naming a specific PU manufacturer who is wholly to blame for these shameful PU regulations.

I agree. Let Stefano and Tombazis and MBS and all involved face the damn music. People told them for years this formula wouldn’t work, and they ignored them. Bailing them out last minute would be a crime. I hope Melbourne is a disaster, as long as nobody gets hurt. Jeddah, a track with basically two braking zones, will be even worse.

Hopefully FOM, the FIA, and [redacted German manufacturer] have a great time going down with the ship like it’s April 1912.

I dont think MBS is aligned. They clearly want him out. Why do you think some reporter was digging up some vague quote from an archived blog from 2001? He was also blamed for meddling in overturning Alonso's penalty at '23 Saudi GP and we know Alonso is Mercedes enemy no.1. Toto, his wife and their crony media partners have tried quite a bit to drag him into controversies to make his position untenable.

But they clearly have some alignment with the FIA because they get their way on literally every TD, rule changes, penalties, etc. and have done so since Brawn sold them the team and brought them in.

These new regs were enticing to many manufactures, especially the likes of Toyota and Audi joining the fray. Thanks to their knowledge of the WEC LMP1 and LMh cars, they both seen this as opportunity. I can possibly see Porsche having interests in joining the competition in the future. As much as we would blame Mercedes for this, is the blame really warranted? Ferrari doesn't mind the way these new cars functions either due to their experience and success with the Le Mans Prototypes.

I can see why Mercedes were against the front axle harvesting, possibly due the weight and making these car much more complex than they already are. And for some reason Ferrari was against the new race start procedures... so I completely disagree with assessment about Mercedes because to me it's not just "one" manufacturer who backed the decision to green light this.

[AR3-GP]

These new regs were enticing to many manufactures, especially the likes of Toyota and Audi joining the fray. Thanks to their knowledge of the WEC LMP1 and LMh cars, they both seen this as opportunity. I can possibly see Porsche having interests in joining the competition in the future. As much as we would blame Mercedes for this, is the blame really warranted? Ferrari doesn't mind the way these new cars functions either due to their experience and success with the Le Mans Prototypes.

I can see why Mercedes were against the front axle harvesting, possibly due the weight and making these car much more complex than they already are. And for some reason Ferrari was against the new race start procedures... so I completely disagree with assessment about Mercedes because to me it's not just "one" manufacturer who backed the decision to green light this.

The concern was raised last January to lower the battery power: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-c ... gine-plan/

The idea of pulling the battery power down from 350kW to 200kW for races has been supported by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who said he thinks it will help avoid the worst of drivers being on economy runs.

"What we desperately want to avoid is a situation where drivers are lifting and coasting from halfway down the straight," he told The Race. "That will frustrate the drivers. It will be bad for the spectacle of out and out racing.

Mercedes refused:

Mercedes F1 CEO Toto Wolff has made it clear that he is against any move to change the regulations in such a way before the cars are seen in action for the first time.

"But I think it's again gamesmanship, based on guessing and opinion. There is no data supporting any of that [concern]. So it's just another opinion. Yet again."

The brazenness to say, "There is no data supporting any of that concern" when he knew these PU regs were a bust. The management of F1 has spiraled out of control. The wolves are inside the hen house. There are no longer any checks and balances for the good of the sport. There is so much money involved now. They will campaign very hard that this is actually the best era yet. Anyone who disagree is an old timer who doesn't like change...It's all so predictable.

[SB15]

These new regs were enticing to many manufactures, especially the likes of Toyota and Audi joining the fray. Thanks to their knowledge of the WEC LMP1 and LMh cars, they both seen this as opportunity. I can possibly see Porsche having interests in joining the competition in the future. As much as we would blame Mercedes for this, is the blame really warranted? Ferrari doesn't mind the way these new cars functions either due to their experience and success with the Le Mans Prototypes.

I can see why Mercedes were against the front axle harvesting, possibly due the weight and making these car much more complex than they already are. And for some reason Ferrari was against the new race start procedures... so I completely disagree with assessment about Mercedes because to me it's not just "one" manufacturer who backed the decision to green light this.

The concern was raised last January: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-c ... gine-plan/

The idea of pulling the battery power down from 350kW to 200kW for races has been supported by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who said he thinks it will help avoid the worst of drivers being on economy runs.

"What we desperately want to avoid is a situation where drivers are lifting and coasting from halfway down the straight," he told The Race. "That will frustrate the drivers. It will be bad for the spectacle of out and out racing.

Mercedes refused:

Mercedes F1 CEO Toto Wolff has made it clear that he is against any move to change the regulations in such a way before the cars are seen in action for the first time.

"But I think it's again gamesmanship, based on guessing and opinion. There is no data supporting any of that [concern]. So it's just another opinion. Yet again."

The brazenness to say, "There is no data supporting any of that concern" when he knew these PU regs were a bust. The management of F1 has spiraled out of control. The wolves are inside the hen house. There are no longer any checks and balances for the good of the sport. There is so much money involved now. They will campaign very hard that this is actually the best era yet. Anyone who disagree is an old timer who doesn't like change...It's all so predictable.

Thanks for the sources, I appreciate this!

This is going to be an interesting season where the FIA and FOM go with this. It's hilarious that the problems with the old LMP1 cars are coming to light in a big way, maybe even worse.

[peewon]

These new regs were enticing to many manufactures, especially the likes of Toyota and Audi joining the fray. Thanks to their knowledge of the WEC LMP1 and LMh cars, they both seen this as opportunity. I can possibly see Porsche having interests in joining the competition in the future. As much as we would blame Mercedes for this, is the blame really warranted? Ferrari doesn't mind the way these new cars functions either due to their experience and success with the Le Mans Prototypes.

I can see why Mercedes were against the front axle harvesting, possibly due the weight and making these car much more complex than they already are. And for some reason Ferrari was against the new race start procedures... so I completely disagree with assessment about Mercedes because to me it's not just "one" manufacturer who backed the decision to green light this.

The only inviting aspect of the technical regs for newcomers was the removal of MGU-h as that is a bit of complex technology to master for newcomers and costly without much real world application. Apart from that, the main reason so many manufacturers were interested in F1 is that there is now a cost cap which means profit or very limited spend in order to advertise on the biggest global motorsport platform. I dont think anyone cared how they split the ICE/electrical component of the PU. Either way, the no. 1 consideration of all regs should always be how to showcase the sport first and foremost and harvesting down the straight is just not F1.

These concerns were brought up immediately when simulations started. Red Bull were the most outspoken as they were among the earliest in development. Ferrari have kept a low profile but also expressed concerns. It was Toto Wolff who came out extremely strongly against making any changes. Even 2 years ago when there was more than enough time to pivot. To me that suggests they had something up their sleeve, just like in 2014.

There is a pattern there with rulesets, Mercedes and the FIA and its hard to chalk it up to coincidence. There is no smoking gun so people will have different opinions on it. But enough paddock people have said things about 2014 and then with TD039, Ferrari engine crack down, immediate change to flexi wing tests in 2021 when RB was the concerned team vs no clamp down for almost full season worth of races in 2024 when Mercedes and Mclaren were employing them.

If you think Mercedes are just clever enough to have all their loop hole exploits pre-cleared by FIA, whereas teams like Aston Martin (arm chair rear wings) immediately get pegged back, thats fine. But its hard to debate the almost hypocritical and self contradictory ways in which FIA dealt with flexi wings.

In May 2021, Lewis Hamilton complains publicly about flexi wings on the Red Bull. FIA immediately announces a change to tests, doubling the loads and making them applicable by the French GP. One month. Cost Red bull $500k to make the changes in an era of cost cap.

In 2024 Red Bull and Ferrari complain for months about flexi wings on Mclaren and Mercedes. FIA do nothing. The video of Mclaren's rear wing forming a mini DRS go viral on social media. Only then FIA responds but says its too late in the season for teams to develop a new wing so lets them continue racing with it. Completely absurd and self contradictory. Doesnt make any changes till the Spanish GP of 2025 season.

[Henk_v]

Didn't we more or less have the same sentiment on de ground effect cars around this time of year? Everybody agreed it was a bust and undriveable.

I do think these regs are a bit worse, but it seems fair to give it a few races before panicking. Changing the regs before the first start would be stupid. In the end we want to see interesting racing.

Those overpaid snob drivers are there for our entertainment. Shut up and put your laps in. If we are not entertained well, we'll see what changes need to be done.

[Rikhart]

Didn't we more or less have the same sentiment on de ground effect cars around this time of year? Everybody agreed it was a bust and undriveable.

I do think these regs are a bit worse, but it seems fair to give it a few races before panicking. Changing the regs before the first start would be stupid. In the end we want to see interesting racing.

Those overpaid snob drivers are there for our entertainment. Shut up and put your laps in. If we are not entertained well, we'll see what changes need to be done.

I for one don't recall this in the slightest, first voices of discord started around when many teams started having porpoising.

[eyelid]

Just allow ICE to charge the battery also. Easy fix.