There are extensive control changes in Formula 1. The cars should become smaller, lighter and more sustainable. The solution to the problems of the premier class?
The Formula 1 season 2025 has just started, but the year 2026 is already throwing its shadows ahead. Because then the next comprehensive control changes are due in the premier class of motorsport.
A revision of the rules traditionally also messes up the power structure among the teams. Quite a few teams that are not very successful in the first races this year should quickly focus on the development of the car for the next season, and then be ahead. There are a few things to consider.
T-online explains what will change in the 2026 season and what the innovations should be on.
The new rules will change Formula 1 in three very important areas: the aerodynamics, the engines and the size and weight of the cars.
With aerodynamics A Formula 1 car is all about downforce. A Formula 1 car works like an overturned aircraft. While planes are designed so that the air flow around the wings lifts them, Formula 1 teams try to steer the air flow around the cars so that the air presses the car down. So the car should suck on the floor in order to be able to drive through the curves at higher speeds without the driver losing control.
However, the successful search of the teams for more and more abrupt has also caused a big problem in recent years: the so -called “dirty air” (in German: dirty air). The “Dirty Air” describes the tubborn air caused by the aerodynamics of the cars. The more downforce the cars generate, the more swirled air is created behind them.
This is a problem because the “Dirty Air” means that the aerodynamics on a car afterwards no longer work as intended and the car in turn loses downforce. A driver loses time when chasing another car. The overtaking is so difficult. The tension in the races is not beneficial.
Formula 1 intends to significantly reduce the output of the cars with the new rules. From 2026, individual elements of the front and rear wings are to be adapted, sometimes even forbidden and completely omitted. The lower floors of the cars are also to be simplified. According to the regular keepers of the International Automobile Association FIA, the output is to be reduced by up to 30 percent. That would reduce the “Dirty Air” and thus lead to better persecution hunts and overtaking maneuvers.
At the same time, reducing the output means lower curve speeds and thus theoretically slower lap times. In order to avoid this, the new aerodynamics rules should also reduce air resistance on the cars by 55 percent. This should make the cars faster on the straight primarily and compensate for the loss of time due to the lower drive.
Another renewal of aerodynamics awaits the teams in the field of active overtaking aids. So far, the drivers have had the so -called “Drag Reduction System” or DRS for short. This is a system that allows drivers to have the rear wing opened at the push of a button, to reduce the air resistance and thus achieve higher top speeds. The current set of rules allows drivers to only use the DRS if they are located behind another vehicle within one second. In this way, overtaking maneuvers should be made easier.
In the future, the DRS is to be replaced by more comprehensive active aerodynamics. The drivers should be able to change their wing settings while driving without being defined at a certain distance from the man in front. Both rear and front wings should be able to be adjusted at fixed points of a route. In the future, a distinction will be made between the so-called X mode for low air resistance with flat wings and a Z-mode for more drift through employees.