Lewis Hamilton has claimed the planned 30kg weight reduction on the new Formula 1 car coming in 2026 isn’t enough despite citing it’s a step in the “right direction”.
The FIA has revealed the guidelines for the upcoming F1 regulation overhaul with the headline being that it has delivered on the goal to have lighter and nimbler cars.
Several drivers had stressed the importance of slashing a minimum weight limit that has risen from 691kg in 2014 to 798kg with the current ground effect machines.
The FIA had admitted in recent months its intention to address that negative trend and has now published that there will be a 30kg reduction down to 768kg in 2026.
However, Hamilton, who was among those who have critiqued how cumbersome the cars have become, believes that the cut could have been even more substantial.
“It’s only 30 kilos so it’s going in the right direction but it’s still heavy,” Hamilton said. “So, I mean I’ve only just seen what you’ve all seen this morning.
“I don’t really have huge thoughts on it just yet, spoke to some drivers who have driven it on sim as I haven’t driven it on the sim, they said it’s pretty slow.
“So we will see whether it’s actually the right direction or not.
Despite his reservations over the aero and chassis regulations, the seven-time F1 champion commended the impending switch towards using 100% sustainable fuels.
“I think in terms of sustainability on the PU side it’s a bold step and the right direction,” he continued.
“We’ve just got to make sure the cars are efficient, fast and a natural step forward, and actually racing is improved.”
Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg concurred with Hamilton on the discussion surrounding weight reduction and has suggested that more incremental tweaks could still be made.
“Yeah it’s certainly quite different, and some interesting areas and aspects, some that still need a bit further work, like Lewis said the weight reduction is good but 30kg is not the world, it looks like a lot less downforce, especially high-speed corners, will be a different scenario and characteristic to now,” Hulkenberg added.
“There’s definitely going to be a drastic change and change you’re not always so open to it.
“But we’ll see what happens between now and the one and a half years if there might be some small adjustments with what’s going on.”
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