FIA Reveals More Details On 2026 F1 Car Performance

Saajan Jogia | Oct 20, 2024

FIA 2026 Regulations / FIA Press CGI Image

After concerns were raised about the performance of the 2026 car, efforts were made to implement potential tweaks to enhance performance. These adjustments have now halved the performance gap, reducing the 2-second deficit between the new car and the current one to just one second.

A key highlight of the 2026 cars will be the equal balance between electric power and internal combustion, marking a significant shift in Formula 1's hybrid technology. The cars will also be lighter and more compact, featuring smaller wheels designed to make way for close racing and exciting track action.

However, when the outline plan for the 2026 car was revealed ahead of the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, it indicated that the future F1 car will be slower than the current ground effect cars by a significant two seconds, which is quite a lot in the world of racing.

Now though, the latest changes in the regulations have made it possible to reduce the gap by one second. Speaking on the subject, FIA’s single seater director, Nikolas Tombazis told the media:

“There has been an increase of performance of the car by probably about 50 points of downforce.

“This has brought the performance from what maybe was minus 40% compared to current cars, to around minus 15% in terms of downforce.

“In terms of performance, the resulting lap time of the cars is very close to current cars. All that has been done as was promised in June.”

Tombazis was then asked about the potential gap in performance that could have existed if no further changes were made to the regulations. He said:

“If we had made no change after June, I guess it would have been probably approximately another two seconds slower.”

Elaborating on the detailed changes planned on the 2026 car, which include increased downforce and other performance enhancements, he added:

“The main changes on the aerodynamics have been increasing a bit the box in which the front wing lies.

“We have also added the front wing fence and the style that used to be in previous cars.

“We've added some space for devices in front of the front floor, like the sideboard and the leading edge of the sideboard. We've increased the size of the diffuser, which starts a bit further forward and is a bit bigger.

“We've redesigned some of the bodywork around the front wheels, and there's still some work ongoing that may hopefully lead to some final tweaks in the next World Council of the rear bodywork, and how that interacts with the diffuser in that area.”

The latest draft of the 2026 regulations introduces several key changes, particularly to the front wing design. These include expanding the allowable box region for the front wing elements and increasing the thickness of the endplates. While the updates may not seem extensive, they offer significant potential for boosting downforce in the next generation of cars. This is largely due to the interconnected nature of the changes, which affect the car's aerodynamics from front to rear, enhancing overall performance.