Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success

The Formula 1 paddock is full of the most brilliant minds that are incredible at responding immediately to the biggest of challenges thrown at them. But, collectively, it is true also that there is often big resistance to change.

Maybe it’s simply a flipside of those same amazing brains that see opportunity in everything; in that their neurons also have to fire off warnings about the worst outcome of things to come.

Think of the resistance that drivers kicked up when they found out HANS was going to become mandatory in F1 and they talked of it making things too uncomfortable to race; or that the Halo would make F1 cars so ugly that fans would be turned off forever.

The arrival of early hybrid systems in F1, with KERS in 2009, was pre-empted with outspoken remarks that it would be too expensive for teams and too dangerous amid risks that mechanics would be electrocuted. Then, heading into the 2022 rules overhaul, there were numerous voices pitching in that the regulations were so prescriptive that we would end up with identical cars, and one of the great attractions of F1’s technical race would be wiped away.

On almost every occasion, the worst-case scenario never played out and F1 did what it is absolutely awesome at doing: getting on with things and making it the very best it can be.

This repeated glass half-empty attitude to future change is something that has been bubbling away in the paddock recently when it comes to thinking about what’s in prospect with F1’s 2026 rules revolution.

Watch: F1 Teams Concerns about the 2026 Regulations Changes

Almost 12 months ago, the concern was the cars would perform in strange ways to try to generate battery power: including drivers changing down on the straights and needing to endlessly lift and coast.

We heard soundbites about ‘Frankenstein Cars’, but in the end, the FIA was keen to point out that what the teams were worried about was something that was far away from the car models that would be realised by the regulations.

Now, more recently, fears about the 2026 cars emerged once again as a number of squads conducted some simulation work on active aero development.

Some of the concerns have appeared to be slightly excessive at times, but equally some of them are based on genuine factors

Voices emerged explaining how things had been quite worrying: of cars spinning under acceleration on the straights, or drivers needing to be so cautious to avoid trouble that they ended up lapping slower than F2 cars.

One team boss felt that these simulation stories – allied to concerns about battery energy and the potentially competitive spread triggered by the sustainable fuel regulations – confirmed that F1 was not in a happy spot when it came to 2026 preparations. “Collectively, we are in the shit right now,” he said. “But we need to give it time. There is still a long way to go before 2026.”

Some of the concerns have appeared to be slightly excessive at times, but equally, some of them are based on genuine factors.

There is potential for F2 cars to lap faster than F1 machinery in 2026

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

For example, there is probably an acceptance even among F1 and FIA chiefs that the path to the 2026 rules has not been ideal: with the power unit regulations being set in a way that the chassis rules need to act as a bit of a sticking plaster to overcome some of the energy deployment deficiencies.

We must not forget that when the idea of the 2026 overhaul first emerged more than five years ago, the power unit plan was quite different.

PLUS: Why the 2026 rules expose the perils of F1’s road car quest

For above and beyond the 50/50 combustion/battery power solution that was settled upon, there was the idea of having front axle energy recovery to assist with charging the batteries even more. But that plan was ultimately rejected following consultation with the manufacturers; and that left the rule makers on the back foot in trying to come up with a performance profile that is at an F1 level.

It is this shortfall in available energy from the battery that was the foundation of the issues of drivers potentially changing down gears on the straights, and forcing the need for low-drag cars to ensure decent speed down the straights.

But battery technology is fast moving and what was true for energy recovery and deployment last year will not be the same for 2026. A lot of the concerns about the potential strange behaviour of the car will melt away as battery technology improves.

We just need to look at how Formula E battery power developed. From 200kW and a top speed of 225km/h in 2014, Gen 2 saw it leap to 250kW and 280km/h in 2018, while 2022’s Gen 3 has 350kW and a top speed of 322km/h. Gen 4, coming in 2026, is set to have 400kW.

F1 will look to supercharge battery development

Photo by: DPPI

With competition between manufacturers, F1 will move at a much faster pace.

Another important point to understand about the way regulations are framed at the moment is that it is a joint process – with the FIA and teams working with each other through potential problems rather than rules just being presented to competitors as a fait accompli.

This approach means that teams are on the frontline to help alert the FIA and F1 to potential pitfalls along the way. After all, teams have much bigger resources (both in staff numbers and technology) to highlight any traps on the horizon.

It doesn’t matter if the teams are out of their comfort zone and worried about what’s coming; it doesn’t matter to the regulator who wins or loses. The end game is always about F1 being the best product it can be

Just as the recent simulator stories were triggered by tests that were being conducted to confirm ideas that would not work, so too F1 chiefs have responded to other concerns that emerged.

Take those stories of drivers changing down gears on the straights because they are lifting and coasting everywhere…

Left to their own devices, teams would certainly have concluded that the quickest way around tracks like Monza would be to use all the energy at the start of the straights until the battery ran out, and then lift and coast into the corners. It would not make for a good spectacle, nor good racing. That is exactly why tweaks have been made to the regulations to ensure that deployment can only be used in a way that works for the show.

Lifting and coasting into corners could more common than ever in 2026

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

As one source, who is well across the progress on the regulations, said: “I think it's been absolutely foremost in our mind to protect the racing spectacle. And this is why we've done some of the things on the energy management that are probably not particularly obvious.

“If you left energy management free, the quickest way around a lap is to use all your energy at the start of the straight and then slow down towards the end: a sort of ultimate lift and coast. But that's not really what we wanted to see. So, what we've done is put a tailored deployment of energy into the regulations. Things like that are not obvious, but we're really trying hard to ensure that the spectacle is still there.”

Therein lies the ultimate ambition.

It doesn’t matter if the teams are out of their comfort zone and worried about what’s coming; it doesn’t matter to the regulator who wins or loses. The end game is always about F1 being the best product it can be.

After all, a little jeopardy is never a bad thing for the show – even if it does trigger some early fears of the worst possible outcome.

What's the worst that can happen?

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images