The world motorsport governing body, the FIA, has revealed the direction the 2026 Formula 1 regulations are set to take.
With the 2026 F1 power unit regulations already in place, the FIA has turned its attention towards the design of the F1 chassis.
FIA Single Seater Director Nikolas Tombazis has discussed the 2026 regulations, focusing on smaller, lighter and more raceable cars as the desired objective.
“We aim to have a significantly lower weight limit, and we are looking to reduce the weight limit by 40 to 50 kilos in 2026,” said Tombazis (via Autosport).
“The way we want to do that is related to what we’ve termed the ‘nimble car’ concept, because we basically feel that in recent years the cars have become a bit too bulky and too heavy.”
Changes are also reported to be coming to the overall dimensions of F1 cars, with Autosport stating that the wheelbase is set to shrink to 3400mm, down from the current maximum of 3600mm and the cars will be narrower, shrinking from 2000mm to 1900mm.
In theory, the reduction in car dimensions could lead to reduced downforce courtesy of a smaller surface to influence aero and Tombazis believes a reduction in aerodynamic load is also key to weight saving on future F1 cars.
“This lower downforce means that a lot of the loading on components, such as suspension, will reduce and that will enable the teams to reduce the weight consequentially,” said Tombazis.
It’s not just the overall size of the car that is set to shrink, Tombazis revealed that F1 will seek out a smaller wheel concept as well.
“We are tentatively aiming for wheels that are 16-inch wheel rims, with smaller wheel diameter and smaller width both front and rear,” he said.
“All of these things we believe are pushing towards a significantly lower weight.”
The most recent change in the F1 regulations came in the 2022 season, with the introduction of ground effect aimed at aiding drivers to be able to race and more importantly follow their competitors closely and Tombazis wants the 2026 regulations to further this concept.
“We believe that for the next round [of rules in 2026] we’ll achieve a much more robust close racing solution,” he said.
“The 2023 season had a small worsening of the close racing features.
“The cars had degraded a bit in their ability to follow each other closely, and we think we understand why, how and what we need to do.”
Tombazis also discussed the role DRS will have to play in 2026 and beyond.
DRS (Drag Reduction System) was introduced for the 2011 season and allows a pursuing car to open up the rear wing when within one second of the car in front at certain zones of the circuit.
The use of DRS to aid overtaking has been a mainstay and some say, a necessity ever since its introduction, but with the possibility of racier cars in 2026, will it still be necessary, what form shall it take or will there be an alternative?
Tombazis spoke at length on the future of DRS within F1.
“There will be something equivalent to the current DRS, which will basically enable the following car that is within a certain limit to potentially get in a position to attack,” he said.
“What form that mechanism will take: whether it will be an additional change of an aerodynamic component on the straight, or an additional change of the aerodynamic component in the corner, or whether it will be part of the energy of the engine….which of the three, we’re still doing our best simulations to arrive to the best possible solution.
“What we don’t want to have is cars basically diving past each other on the straight. We want cars arriving close to each other at the braking point and there being a fight, and drivers having to use their skill.
“We can’t risk arriving into a situation where overtaking becomes impossible again, or something like that.
“So we want to have it in the pocket and to use it moderately, but not highly.
“Overtaking must also be a fight.
“We don’t want the cars just to drive past each other.”
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