Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes the impending 2026 Formula 1 regulations will hurt the series’ converging field, warning new rules will “smash it all up”.
A year displaced from the most one-sided title race in Formula history in 2023, the F1 field is tighter than ever with mere tenths covering the top teams in qualifying and Max Verstappen sharing wins with Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris, the latter of which has pressed Verstappen to the final lap on multiple occasions.
With one more year of the current rule cycle, which at its introduction was one of the biggest changes to Formula 1 regulations in decades, the field could get tighter than ever before 2026 ushers in a new wave of F1 cars.
50/50 power split hybrid engines, moveable aerodynamics and smaller dimensions are just a taste of a seismic change coming to Formula 1 in 2026 and Horner is worried this will rid the series of its current close competition.
“If you ignore 2023, we’re having an amazing year,” Horner said after last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
“2023 was a unicorn, and this is normal, this is Formula 1, and it’s normal there’s great teams, there’s great drivers, there’s going to be competition, and it’s stable regulations, which is the benefit of stable regulations, it always converges.
“I always remember when I came into Formula 1, Ron Dennis said to me, in a Commission meeting, ‘if you want close racing, leave it alone, just leave it alone, and everything converges.’
“And that’s what we’re seeing at the moment, everything converging, and then we’re going to smash it all up for 2026.
“We’re having to fight really hard for the wins at the moment, we’re having to be on the top of our game as a team, and the drivers have to be at the top of their game as well.
“That’s Formula 1, that’s as it should be.”
Horner isn’t alone in his fears (which will more than likely come to fruition) that the 2026 regulations will split apart the competitive order.
McLaren’s Norris, the greatest benefactor to the converging field having beaten Verstappen in Miami and run him close at Imola, Montreal and Barcelona, spoke at the Canadian GP.
After Verstappen and George Russell set an identical time in qualifying at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Norris warned, “You’re not going to have days like today again.
“Red Bull had their time, and now it seems like we’ve been able to catch up.
“So just as we’re getting there, and I think probably looking ahead to next year already, next year should be an exciting year for everyone, just from first to last.
“I think it’s going to be exciting. But then that’s all going to go in ‘26.”
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