MCSL
The FIA released a refined version of the F1 2026 cars in late 2024, which were predicted to have improved lap times by two seconds per lap compared to the previous 2026 renderings.
• Formula 1's planned 2026 cars are now about two seconds per lap faster as a result of regulation changes made by teams and the FIA.
• The initial concerns about the performance level of the next-generation cars led to modifications to enhance their cornering speed.
• Key changes include increasing the front wing box size, adding a front wing fence, and incorporating devices in front of the underbody.
• The diffuser has been enlarged and starts further forward, while the bodywork around the front wheels has been redesigned.
• These alterations collectively contribute to increased downforce and improved lap times, bringing the 2026 cars closer in performance to the 2025 cars.
www.fia.com
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
• Formula 1's planned 2026 cars are now about two seconds per lap faster as a result of regulation changes made by teams and the FIA.
• The initial concerns about the performance level of the next-generation cars led to modifications to enhance their cornering speed.
• Key changes include increasing the front wing box size, adding a front wing fence, and incorporating devices in front of the underbody.
• The diffuser has been enlarged and starts further forward, while the bodywork around the front wheels has been redesigned.
• These alterations collectively contribute to increased downforce and improved lap times, bringing the 2026 cars closer in performance to the 2025 cars.
| Federation Internationale de l'Automobile
The FIA is the governing body of motor sport and promotes safe, sustainable and accessible mobility for all road users across the world. It works across three areas: Sport, Mobility and Campaigns.
The 2026 F1 technical regulations are now on their 10th issue, with the latest revision having been issued on December 11, 2024. Issue nine of the regulations brought the most significant changes to aerodynamics, while issue 10 added a few more, smaller, tweaks.
The FIA made these changes after conducting computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations as well as laptime simulations. It did not however feel the need to use the windtunnel, as it did to create the rules that were implemented in 2022.
It wanted the 2026 F1 cars to be faster than they would have been when the regulations were first announced by bringing their simulated laptimes closer to those of the 2024 F1 cars.
FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis said the latest regulation change "has brought the performance from what maybe was -40% compared to current [2024] cars to -15% in terms of downforce".
Another area of concern for the FIA was, and continues to be, controlling aerodynamic wake. This is an effect in which a car disturbs airflow and makes it difficult for the car behind to follow and even overtake - which can perhaps make certain races 'less exciting' for viewers and drivers alike.
Tombazis added that, by not controlling the design of areas of the current cars including front wing endplates, floor edges and diffuser edges that can create vortices and therefore turbulent air, the FIA "missed a few tricks on the regulatory side".
"We believe we've learned from these [issues mentioned] on the 2026 regulations," he said.
The floor is one of the most significant but least-visible areas of change in the latest revision to the 2026 F1 regulations.
The current 2026 F1 regulations mandate shorter Venturi tunnels - far shorter than mandated by the previous generation and shorter than previous iterations of the current technical regulations - underneath the car in order to reduce the reliance on the underfloor for creating downforce.
"The main driving force for that is we wanted to have cars that are not quite running as close to the ground as current cars," said Tombazis.
The FIA may not want cars running as close to the ground in order to reduce the bouncing or 'porpoising' effect endemic to the current generation of F1 cars, when they were first introduced in particular.
To balance the loss of downforce caused by having shorter Venturi tunnels, the new regulations have allowed for a longer diffuser with a slightly larger exit - therefore enhancing the low-pressure airflow underneath the car.
There are however other, more visible, changes to the latest 2026 F1 car.
The front wings of the 2026 F1 cars will be narrower than the previous iteration and look markedly different too.
The front wing generates local downforce but also dictates how the rest of the car should be designed given air will be channelled downstream by this component.
Using the computer aided design (CAD) co-ordinates supplied within the latest technical regulations to give F1 car designers a legal area in which to develop their parts, it's clear to see that there is more room for teams to develop the outsides of their front wings.
The FIA now allows a fence underneath each side of the front wing - allowing teams to condition airflow more effectively to the front of the floor - and to achieve the same effect there's more room for teams to develop parts beyond the endplate of the front wing.
Tombazis said that this area, ahead of the front wheels, is possibly the "most significant" revision to the 2026 F1 regulations. Such a change allows teams to direct airflow to the floor with a lower chance of creating outwash air that generates turbulence.
The front of the floor has been reshaped to control turbulent wake created by the front wheels.
Tombazis said that "the numbers we [the FIA] have for wake performance is far better than anything we've had before, so we believe we've identified the areas where they have loopholes and tried to deteriorate this effect".
A much larger area of development has been allowed by the latest revision to the regulations, echoing the 'bargeboards' that were prevalent on F1 cars from the mid-1990s until 2021.
Not only does this area of the car help reduce turbulent wake exuded by the front wheels towards following cars; it helps teams prevent that turbulent wake affecting the rear of the car and channel airflow around the sidepods for overall aerodynamic performance.
Cars might well continue sporting vanes ahead of the sidepods in order to channel airflow under the floor - while using devices further forward to enhance that effect.
Furthermore, teams have been given freer reign on how to develop the aerodynamics on the top of their sidepods, which could reveal some different designs come pre-season testing.
X-Mode and Z-Mode created headlines when they were first announced but the 2026 F1 regulations have done away with those devices - replacing them with Straight-Line Mode and Corner Mode.
They will still be used in a similar way; Straight-Line Mode will be used to reduce drag and enhance top speed in most straight sections - unless the FIA deems certain straights to be too unsafe for this mode to be deployed.
Meanwhile, Corner Mode will be the default mode, and in the case that Straight-Line Mode fails the active aerodynamics will put the car back into Corner Mode.
Unlike the Drag Reduction System (DRS) currently used in F1, this overtaking system will change the angles of both the front and rear wings. Furthermore, teams will be able to use hydraulic or electric activation to trigger the modes.
The FIA has had to ensure a balance between the angles of the front and rear wings in Straight-Line Mode, however, as the effect was previously causing excessive front downforce compared to the lack of rear downforce.
Tombazis said that the amount of drag from the rear wing will be reduced by around 40% compared to current cars when DRS is not deployed.
This system will be further tweaked in coming regulations to ensure a safe balance between front and rear downforce.
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
.jpg?h=1080&iar=0&w=1920&hash=D684C9857FC6C4E7BA2005496A050494)
The FIA made these changes after conducting computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations as well as laptime simulations. It did not however feel the need to use the windtunnel, as it did to create the rules that were implemented in 2022.
It wanted the 2026 F1 cars to be faster than they would have been when the regulations were first announced by bringing their simulated laptimes closer to those of the 2024 F1 cars.
FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis said the latest regulation change "has brought the performance from what maybe was -40% compared to current [2024] cars to -15% in terms of downforce".
Another area of concern for the FIA was, and continues to be, controlling aerodynamic wake. This is an effect in which a car disturbs airflow and makes it difficult for the car behind to follow and even overtake - which can perhaps make certain races 'less exciting' for viewers and drivers alike.
Tombazis added that, by not controlling the design of areas of the current cars including front wing endplates, floor edges and diffuser edges that can create vortices and therefore turbulent air, the FIA "missed a few tricks on the regulatory side".
"We believe we've learned from these [issues mentioned] on the 2026 regulations," he said.
The floor is one of the most significant but least-visible areas of change in the latest revision to the 2026 F1 regulations.
The current 2026 F1 regulations mandate shorter Venturi tunnels - far shorter than mandated by the previous generation and shorter than previous iterations of the current technical regulations - underneath the car in order to reduce the reliance on the underfloor for creating downforce.
"The main driving force for that is we wanted to have cars that are not quite running as close to the ground as current cars," said Tombazis.
The FIA may not want cars running as close to the ground in order to reduce the bouncing or 'porpoising' effect endemic to the current generation of F1 cars, when they were first introduced in particular.
To balance the loss of downforce caused by having shorter Venturi tunnels, the new regulations have allowed for a longer diffuser with a slightly larger exit - therefore enhancing the low-pressure airflow underneath the car.
There are however other, more visible, changes to the latest 2026 F1 car.
The front wings of the 2026 F1 cars will be narrower than the previous iteration and look markedly different too.
The front wing generates local downforce but also dictates how the rest of the car should be designed given air will be channelled downstream by this component.
Using the computer aided design (CAD) co-ordinates supplied within the latest technical regulations to give F1 car designers a legal area in which to develop their parts, it's clear to see that there is more room for teams to develop the outsides of their front wings.
The FIA now allows a fence underneath each side of the front wing - allowing teams to condition airflow more effectively to the front of the floor - and to achieve the same effect there's more room for teams to develop parts beyond the endplate of the front wing.
Tombazis said that this area, ahead of the front wheels, is possibly the "most significant" revision to the 2026 F1 regulations. Such a change allows teams to direct airflow to the floor with a lower chance of creating outwash air that generates turbulence.
The front of the floor has been reshaped to control turbulent wake created by the front wheels.
Tombazis said that "the numbers we [the FIA] have for wake performance is far better than anything we've had before, so we believe we've identified the areas where they have loopholes and tried to deteriorate this effect".
A much larger area of development has been allowed by the latest revision to the regulations, echoing the 'bargeboards' that were prevalent on F1 cars from the mid-1990s until 2021.
Not only does this area of the car help reduce turbulent wake exuded by the front wheels towards following cars; it helps teams prevent that turbulent wake affecting the rear of the car and channel airflow around the sidepods for overall aerodynamic performance.
Cars might well continue sporting vanes ahead of the sidepods in order to channel airflow under the floor - while using devices further forward to enhance that effect.
Furthermore, teams have been given freer reign on how to develop the aerodynamics on the top of their sidepods, which could reveal some different designs come pre-season testing.
X-Mode and Z-Mode created headlines when they were first announced but the 2026 F1 regulations have done away with those devices - replacing them with Straight-Line Mode and Corner Mode.
They will still be used in a similar way; Straight-Line Mode will be used to reduce drag and enhance top speed in most straight sections - unless the FIA deems certain straights to be too unsafe for this mode to be deployed.
Meanwhile, Corner Mode will be the default mode, and in the case that Straight-Line Mode fails the active aerodynamics will put the car back into Corner Mode.
Unlike the Drag Reduction System (DRS) currently used in F1, this overtaking system will change the angles of both the front and rear wings. Furthermore, teams will be able to use hydraulic or electric activation to trigger the modes.
The FIA has had to ensure a balance between the angles of the front and rear wings in Straight-Line Mode, however, as the effect was previously causing excessive front downforce compared to the lack of rear downforce.
Tombazis said that the amount of drag from the rear wing will be reduced by around 40% compared to current cars when DRS is not deployed.
This system will be further tweaked in coming regulations to ensure a safe balance between front and rear downforce.
What could the 2026 Formula 1 cars look like - and how have the regulations shifted?
Discover how the 2026 Formula 1 regulations are set to reshape the sport with major aerodynamic and engine changes. From redesigned front wings to active aerodynamics and new power unit rules, explore how F1 teams are adapting to the biggest technical reset in decades.
www.raceteq.com
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
