Started after being inspired by Starters comments on the "Do we need more cars on the grid" thread, along with others engaging those statements.

First, the near future.


2026 brings changes to the cars. Among them are:


Sustainable fuels

Increase in MGU-K power from 120KW to 350KW

No more MGU-H due mostly to cost

New lower fuel limits - now to be based on energy vs flow to cover differing fuels


Though little is confirmed yet on the chassis regs, initial reports through AMuS on discussions with Pat Symonds (you know the guy banned for life due to Crashgate who is now the Chief Technical Officer of F1) gives us some general direction:

Slightly smaller cars, both width and wheelbase

Weight reduction - hoping for 50kg but stating 20kg is more realistic

Active aero to reduce drag on straights

A mentioned possible "silver bullet" to aid in overtaking, suggestions of something to compensate for the dirty air problems


But when you look at the direction and scope of things, there are also many limiting factors. Though the claims is that overall changes will be big (much bigger than 2022 changes) are they aiming in the right direction? Some simple number crunching suggests that the larger MGU-K will not have enough battery, braking time, or downforce to harvest energy at much more than the current cars. The active aero and speculation of downforce reductions says that the cars might be really fast.... in a straight line. If they are fast enough on the straights, that makes up for some energy recovery with extended braking zones. But I personally don't watch F1 for the straight line stuff, and am curious what the others think.

So far from what I've seen 2026 might be changing the formula enough to create BIG changes in how these cars corner. And from what I've seen of most amateurs estimates of energy recovery, we might be looking at lift and coast strategies coming into play a lot, or lesser outputs than the cars are capable of, or both. Though in theory the cars should have more power on tap, energy storage being limited will likely mean it's never used to it's full potential... releasing full MGU-K power could only be done for about 10 seconds. So chances are many times deployment of electrical energy might be more similar to current cars.

There has been some grumbling and talks that smaller wheels might be used, possibly going to 16 inches or so, in the interest of saving weight. So there is at least one possibility that makes sense, so chances are they will try to kill such talk.



I really hope I'm wrong, but I think they might destroy the formula and the things that have kept it popular.




And long term? Who knows, first we have to survive these next changes and go from there. The hydrogen mention is an option, and I think full electric is out. But most alternative directions include a lot of hurdles, so I think whatever changes in 2026 might stick for a while.



What does everyone else think?