The most striking element of the 2026 F1 cars
The FIA has offered a first look at the next generation of Formula 1, with it dropping a key system that has existed for the last 15 years.
Smaller, nimbler, and better racing.
That was the ethos behind the design of the 2026 Formula 1 regulations from the FIA, with the governing body offering a first look at how everything will work in tandem to improve the show.
The most striking feature of the new regulations is the scrapping of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) after 15 years. The cars will instead have movable front and rear wings through active aerodynamics, enabling drivers to switch between an ‘X-Mode’ for low-drag on a straight and ‘Z-Mode’ for greater cornering speeds.
It marks one of the most significant changes in the modern era of F1, with the cars visually adopting a three-element rear wing instead of the usual two-element with the retractable flap that creates the ‘letterbox’ style opening when cars are within a second of each other.
It will be a welcome change for the overtaking purists as DRS has often been missed the mark on how it was originally intended for use. Introduced in 2011, the system was designed to put drivers ‘in a position to overtake’ rather than enable them to cruise past with a press of a button and leaving the defending car powerless.
DRS would now be redundant in the next ruleset because the new cars will have 55% less drag than the current ones, which means they will be much faster on the straights. It presented a challenge for the FIA in the early stages, as this aero platform combined with the new power unit characteristics presented a few unintended consequences.
Max Verstappen was vocal about needing to downshift on straights to prevent the battery from going flat, while controlling the cars with less downforce and higher top speeds posed issues in early simulator runs. This is why the FIA has introduced a moveable front wing to match the balance characteristics and enable better control in this low downforce mode.
“The difference between the DRS on the current car and the plans for the 2026 car really comes down to the way we use the devices around the lap,” said Jason Somerville, FIA head of Aerodynamics. “We will be giving the cars the ability, on their own, to switch between these high downforce and low drag modes.
"At various points around the lap, the driver will be able to switch between a low drag mode to give them the performance down the straights where they’re not grip limited. Then at a certain point around the lap, i.e. when you come to the braking zone, you’ll then switch back to your high downforce mode.
“This is an active system that is controlled by the driver, although he’ll get a trigger to say when he can activate the system. It will be fully driver controlled and it will switch back either under driver control or via brake pressure.”
So if all the cars will be using the low-drag X-mode, how do they plan to prevent the ‘DRS train’ effect?
As previously outlined by F1 Debrief, the cars will utilise a manual override function within the MGU-K to request more power at high speed. The system is akin to the ‘Push to Pass’ often seen in other series, although the FIA is keen to avoid using that terminology to prevent it coming across as another ‘drive-by’ overtake aid.
When the cars hit 340kph the MGU-K deployment will wear off, but the manual override button will give drivers access to more boost from the electrical motor for longer. This deploys a maximum of 350kW of power past the 340kph mark and up to 355kph. Additionally, the amount of energy drivers can recuperate under braking has doubled and will lead to a total recuperable energy of 8.5MJ per-lap.
For how long the drivers will have access to it during a lap or its usage throughout the race is yet to be determined, as the 2026 Sporting Regulations have yet to be announced.
Solving an age-old F1 problem
The active aero concept attempts to solve an age old problem with single seater racing, whereby drivers are affected by the aerodynamic wake generated by a car ahead of them - otherwise known as ‘dirty air’ - which forces them to pull back through corners.
Jan Monchaux, FIA Technical Director, is keen that these regulations enable cars to stay closer: “We came up with an aero concept which reduces the losses generated by a car. To be able to overtake, you need to be close to the car ahead of you. If you can’t follow in the corners because you are generating so much dirty air that your car gets unstable and you need to pull away, the moment you are at a straight line you need to recover all of that loss.
“It’s very important for us that you can reasonable follow another car in a cornering situation, and to do that we need to make sure from the aero concept that the amount of ‘dirty air’ is not impacting too much the following car.”
The 2022 regulations set out to achieve this and generate better ‘raceablity’ by enabling the cars to stay close. Even these have slowly crept towards returning to the problems posed by the 2017 lap-record breakers.
Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris noted that the ‘dirty air’ has phenomenon has returned when within a second of another car, making is harder to manage the high degradation Pirelli tyres and maintain close proximity.
The early renders of what these cars might look like released by the FIA are exactly that: an early concept. As the 2022 rules showed, the best designers do not necessarily work in the FIA technical department, so expect radical takes on how to exploit the various loopholes once teams can start working on them in early 2025.
Moving away from super-size cars
Weight has been a main talking factor with the current generation of cars. Although the power unit will be heavier due to the increase in batteries, the overall weight of the cars are set to be reduced by 30kg to 768kg.
This includes 722kg for both car and driver plus 46kg estimated tyre mass. The 18-inch wheels will stay but will be reduced by 25mm at the front and the rears by 30mm.
The front wing will resemble the early 00s cars with it now 100mm narrower. The front wheel arches will also be removed, which should improve visibility for the drivers, and the cars are 200mm shorter and 100mm narrower.
The cars will evolve in terms of safety with stronger side- and revised frontal-impact structures to improve protection in a crash. The FIA is also repositioning the GPS antenna in the car, improving sensitivity and leaving the door open to potential “future developments in active safety” which could involve automatic slowing under double-waved yellows.
The next steps involve the 2026 regulations set to be officially ratified by the World Motorsport Council on 28th June.
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