Formula One has learned that Formula 1 team principals will meet today (Saturday) during the Canada weekend to discuss the new rules for 2026. The FIA published on Thursday the guidelines for the technical revolution expected for 2026, during the weekend in Montreal important concerns emerged about some of the basic ideas and how they will have to be developed. With an online meeting of the FIA’s technical advisory committee setting out some of the issues at play on Thursday, sources revealed that team bosses have asked for the topic of 2026 to be the focus of a meeting taking place in the Montreal paddock on Saturday morning. This will be part of what is a semi-regular meeting held with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and other senior stakeholders to discuss the latest issues in F1.
At the heart of the current concern is that some teams believe the FIA has made progress with elements they don’t think will work as intended.
Andrea Stella he stated in the proposal: “The way the single-seaters are in the draft regulations – and we must say draft, because as we say there is a lot of work to be done – the single-seaters are not fast enough in corners and too fast in a straight line so these two aspects need to be rebalanced”. An aspect that also directly concerns the purely sporting one; Mike Krack warned that “Active aerodynamic technology must not become too complex. Because at a certain point viewers won’t understand it anymore.” This includes overall aerodynamics, with some teams suggesting that new cars may be particularly slow because they will lack downforce and will often run out of battery power. Commenting on these new regulations was also an authoritative voice such as that of Adrian Newey, currently not ‘committed’ to any team regarding these 2026 rules: “The FIA seems to be heavily influenced by one or two manufacturers, hoping to please them but also to attract others. I suppose with the arrival of Audi for 2026 there has been partial success in this regard, but I’m not sure the overall trade-off is worth it. The problem is also the overly prescriptive regulationswith such heavy Power units and batteries you can’t ask much from the designers to reduce weight”
Another fundamental issue that the teams want to talk about is weight reduction, in the FIA’s plans the new 2026 cars will be 30 kg lighter compared to the current ones despite a probable increase in batteries and passive safety systems which will have to pass more stringent tests. It is therefore feared that teams will tend to start a useless war using an enormous amount of budget to obtain gains of a few kg just to compete. The teams want to delve into details on the development of active aerodynamics which will include the two modes Z (maximum load) and X with low aerodynamic drag for use on straights.
The FIA’s publication this week sparked the issue because it was considered by many to be rather aggressive in its method, according to some sources, several teams are angry at the unilateral stance regarding the official resolution of the rules package. It is clear that the FIA did not want to wait any longer, nor delay in the discussion because time is running out. The Federation had planned – and still confirmed – a press conference today regarding the new regulations: it will therefore be curious to hear further explanations from those who wrote these rules and are now promoting them, trying to dispel some of the doubts teams and workers. Normally each regulatory revolution must be approved 18 months before coming into force, which means by the end of the month. As happens routinely, the first draft is followed by updates released after the meetings of the technical committee, a table made up of the teams’ DTs, the F1 delegate and the FIA, which implements the details or corrects any defects without affecting its substance. And it is clear that team support is vital at this stage as the simulation tools used to solve the ‘problems’ are at the highest level. As far as we understand, one team would veto a possible rule postponement, therefore leading the FIA to publish the rules in what was the deadline set at the beginning of June. As is known, aerodynamicists will not be able to work on the concept before January 2025, while on the chassis and mechanics it would be possible to bring forward the start of the projects after approval by the world council.
In any case, at worst this summit could open up a crisis scenario, at best it shows a system that is still fractured at the moment in which it is necessary to find a common solution for the future of the highest category of Motorsport.
