The minimum car weight for F1's new rules era has been set at 768kg, 32kg down on the 2025 limit of 800kg. That weight is made up of the car, including driver but minus fuel, and the nominal mass of the tyres. How does that work when we have all-new tyres for 2026? Well, the masses of new, production, dry weather, tyres will be measured by Pirelli and published after the final day of testing in Bahrain and will be the mean mass of a sample of 50 tyres per axle. In the case of a change in tyre specification during the season, the Nominal Tyre Mass will be adjusted if required. As it was in 2022, weight is going to be a major performance differentiator this year with every 10kg of additional weight adding around 0.3-0.4s second to lap time.
To make the cars more agile the new regulations have made them a bit smaller. The maximum wheelbase has been shortened by 200mm to 3.4m, and the width of the floor reduced by 100mm to 1.9m.
We’ll deal with the movable bits of the wings shortly, but in terms of concept and dimensions, the wings are smaller and simpler. On the front wing, in place of the multiple elements of the 2022 cars we get a maximum of three planes. Mounted on twin pylons, the front wing is also 100mm narrower. The endplates are more traditional as well with conventional outer foot plates and options dive planes. At the back of the car the rear wing is also mounted on twin pylons and again has three elements, two of which are active (meaning they can move). The rear tips are simpler than in the previous generation. The lower beam wing we had all got used to is no more, but there is a rear wing brace – a structural brace that offers minimal aero value and a floor winglet, the geometry of which helps with wake control.
One of the new toys available in 2026 is active aero. Replacing what we got used to knowing as DRS, now both the front and rear wings feature two-element flaps that will open and close in designated areas of the track. It comes in two flavours. In Straight Line Mode the wings will open, boosting speed on straights. In Corner Mode the wings will close offering more downforce to help the cars go quicker through the bendy bits.
The wheel arches, or ‘eyebrows’ of the previous set of regulations have been removed. However, there is some development freedom with the rest of the wheel bodywork, so expect this to be an area of focus as teams refine their 2026 car designs.
One of the issues with the previous cars was that the wake control measures built into the 2022 cars became less effective as designs evolved, and in the final years of the regs following and overtaking became increasingly difficult. The new cars have tackled that with in-washing bargeboards behind the front wheels. A laterally fed diffuser also helps with wake management.
We’re sticking with the 18-inch wheels from the last generations of cars, but the tyre dimensions are now smaller to suit the new cars. The tread width is 25mm less at the front and 30mm less at the rear. The total diameter is also 15mm less at the front and 10mm less at the rear. The 2026 range is made up of five compounds from C1 (the hardest) to C5 (the softest). Performance is similar to 2025 levels, but with a wider and more consistent gap between each compound to encourage different race strategies. The intermediate and full wet tread patterns are the same as in 2025.
With DRS replaced by the active aero system, which is primarily being used to better manage energy use across a lap, F1 is moving to electrical power for an overtaking assist. Overtake Mode comes into play at specific points on track and when a driver is within a second of the car in front. Then, the following driver will be able to deploy additional energy to try to pass, with an extra +0.5MJ of extra energy available. The chances of an overtake occurring will be increased by the leading car’s energy deployment tapering off after 290km/h, while the car behind can use overtake mode for a full 350kW up to 337km/h.
The speed differential should help make passing moves possible. Strategies around the harvest and deployment of energy are going to be huge in 2026 and teams with the best electronic and software solutions and the drivers with the best grasp of how to use the tech will be the most successful. That’s a lot of modes for the drivers to get to grips with, but then again they're finely tuned athletes.
Sounds new but it really is just the normal deployment of electric power we see drivers use to attack or defend around a lap. Giving it the name Boost serves to differentiate it from Overtake Mode which is an additional burst of power above and beyond that normally available.
As well as a new chassis and aero surfaces, 2026 cars get a revised Power Unit and for the first time in our history we’re making our own. It’s a massive undertaking for an energy drinks company, but we will have a little bit of heavyweight help in the shape of the most successful engine builder in F1 history – Ford. The 2026 power unit ditches the complex MGU-H and instead pairs the 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 internal combustion engine with vastly increased electric power – a full 300% increase, in order to achieve around a 50/50 between ICE and electrical power and to make approximately 1000hp.
As part of F1’s mission to get to Net Zero by 2030, F1 is switching to advanced sustainable fuels. The new fuels are drop-in replacements for fossil fuels and are made from what’s known as second-generation waste, so that’s non-food biomass, municipal waste or renewable fuel of non-biological origin (RFNBO).
Once sourced, that waste is turned into fuel through a variety of processes that can be quite energy intensive. To mitigate for F1 fuels the supply chain and the process must have a greater than 65 percent Greenhouse Gas emission reduction. Each component of the fuel has to undergo a pretty compliance process conducted by an independent sustainability management scheme company appointed by the FIA. This is to verify that it meets the FIA’s advanced sustainable requirements including its origin. The blended fuel then goes through the same process. The new fuels are complex little beasts and finding the most performant and efficient formula is going to be advantageous.