According to multiple reports, the amount of permitted recharge on a qualifying lap has been reduced from 8MJ to 7MJ, while the power that can be recovered at full throttle has been increased from 250kW to 350kW. During races, the maximum power of the boost mode will be capped at 150kW to reduce speed differentials. A source close to the FIA said drivers will be allowed to deploy full 350kW when accelerating out of corners, but limited to 250kW elsewhere.
The same source indicated the number of races with alternative lower energy limits has been increased from 8 to 12. An FIA spokesperson confirmed tyre blanket temperatures have been increased to improve initial grip. The spokesperson also said rear light systems will be simplified for better visibility in poor conditions.
It's a good step forward. It's going in the right direction.
According to an FIA technical delegate, four changes are being trialled during race starts, including a low-power start detection system and automatic MGU-K deployment. Ollie Bearman's crash in Japan was partly blamed on closing speed differences due to energy management. Max Verstappen, the strongest critic of the new regulations, has said he is considering his future in F1.
Lewis Hamilton believes drivers should have a 'seat at the table' in rule-making discussions, a view echoed by Lando Norris. Norris said he wants to 'get rid of the battery' entirely, but also described the changes as a small step in the right direction. Oscar Piastri said the changes to the boost button and power delivery should make things 'more in our control'.
The changes to the boost button especially and then some of the way the power comes in should make things a bit more in our control and also a bit more sensible.
George Russell said drivers had two headline points: flat-out qualifying and reducing closing speeds. A senior figure said the current changes go about 20% of the way to returning traditional driving feel. Toto Wolff said changes should be made with 'a scalpel rather than a baseball bat', implying minor tweaks are sufficient.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said the changes are 'a good step forward'. McLaren's Andrea Stella agreed with Mekies that a hardware change (fuel-flow rate) is needed to fully address issues. A meeting of teams, F1, and the FIA on Friday agreed in principle to change engine design for 2027, increasing ICE power by 50kW and reducing electrical power by 50kW.
All the drivers we do work together, we all meet but the fact is we don't have a seat at the table. We do engage with the FIA and F1, F1's more often a little bit more responsive. But being that we're not stakeholders, we don't have a seat at the table currently, which I think needs to change.
The 2027 changes aim to make the power split closer to 60-40 (ICE to electrical). The FIA said the meeting agreed unanimously on the 2027 engine changes. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said V8 engines could return by 2030.
The 2026 rules have generally received a favourable reaction from fans. It remains unclear whether the rule changes will be sufficient to satisfy drivers like Verstappen and prevent his potential retirement. The specific hardware changes being considered for the future, such as fuel-flow rate adjustments, have not been detailed.
I say to them, when I was doing the Pirelli test: 'You guys should come and speak to us and collaborate with us, we don't want to be slagging off the Pirelli tyres, we know you can build a good product'. But their feedback will be coming from people who have never driven a car before. Speak to us, we'll work hand in hand, we can work together to approach the FIA so we can get a better product. The same with F1. We're here to work with you. We don't want to be slating our sport. We want the sport to succeed and so we need to be working together. But it's like a [broken] record, you keep doing it and it's like small baby steps each time. But I have no doubt [we are aligned].
The impact of the changes on overtaking and race entertainment is also uncertain.
It's completely correct, it's something that we want, it's what they have in a lot of other sports. Having a seat at the table is something we've s...
It's a small step in the right direction, but it's not to the level that Formula 1 should still be at yet. If you go flat out everywhere and you try pushing like you were in previous years, you still just get penalised for it. You still can't be flat out everywhere. It's not about being as early on throttle everywhere. You should never get penalised for that kind of thing, and you still do. So honestly, I don't really think you can fix that. You just have to get rid of the battery. So hopefully in a few years, that's the case.
The discussions that have been taking place between the group of drivers, the FIA, Formula 1, and the teams have been constructive. And we all share the same objectives. It's how can we improve the product, make it out-and-out racing, and look at what can improve in terms of safety, but act with a scalpel and not with a baseball bat. So I think we are coming to good solutions that we are going to ratify hopefully today, in order to evolve, because it's only three races in.
I am carefully optimistic that we're going to improve the racing, while keeping the racing really good. If you have aligned objectives, and you define those objectives at the beginning, and that is, how can we work on making qualifying more spectacular, enjoyable for the drivers? How can we tackle safety objectives? And at the same time, protect what's really good within the racing, the overtaking. And that's why those steps look like they are in the right direction. Not overshooting, not undershooting, but if you come to the conclusion further down the line, that we need to maybe redefine the objectives, then so be it. But at the moment, I think that's carved out in a pretty clear way, and that's good.
We are custodians of the sport and we have many hundreds of thousands of fans that love F1. In order to protect this huge opportunity that the sport gives us, we shouldn't badmouth in public our own sport.
It's a small step in the right direction, but it's not to the level that Formula 1 should still be at yet. If you go flat out everywhere and you try pushing like you were in previous years, you still just get penalised for it. You still can't be flat out everywhere. It's not about being on as early on throttle everywhere. You should never get penalised for that kind of thing and you still do.