The presentations of the new cars have rekindled interest in the new Formula One World Championship, after the attention had been focused for entire weeks on the movements with in view of the 2026 campaign.
Last August the regulations for the new power units were announced and immediately attracted the interest of new manufacturers, above all Ford and Audi, with other parties also interested, such as Cadillac and Porsche, as well as the pending return of Honda. The new engines will require more aerodynamically efficient cars to cope with the critical factor of fuel consumption. In fact, the power units of 2026 will burn more fuel to recharge the battery, which will feed the hybrid system whose power will more than triple compared to the current one.
At present, the Federation has not yet defined a technical regulation regarding the chassis and aerodynamics of the next generation of cars. The only fixed points at the moment are that the 2026 Formula 1 cars will continue in the direction of ground effect, will not have active suspensions and will be equipped with a greater number of mobile elements. “We have already carried out feasibility studies in the aerodynamic part to make sure that the goals we set are realistic and not just ambitious,” said Nikolas Tombazis last July.
During an interview for the Italian website FormulaPassion, Haas technical director Simone Resta spoke about what he thinks could be the timing of the new regulations: “I think it’s a construction site that has just started, with work on the side of the Federation and with various discussions with the teams. The part of the 2026 regulation relating to the power unit is much more advanced, because it moves at different times, while the chassis and aerodynamic part is a little further back. It is ongoing, these are things that are under discussion between the teams and the Federation, so I expect the topic to be developed during this year and that by the end of 2023 the regulatory context will be clearer and more defined”.
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The design approach of the 2022 cars, whose debut was initially scheduled for 2021, dates back to the now distant 2019. Even in view of 2026, therefore, the first working process of the teams could begin two years in advance: “I think it could be, it will depend a lot on what the contents will be”, continued Simone Resta. “It has been a discussion that has been going on for a while now, but perhaps also for a relatively short time. When the limits of this regulation are more defined, the complexity of the various parts will be understood and it will be clearer to decide where it is necessary to start with research and development activities so early. In such a new regulation, it may be possible to start at the beginning of 2024, therefore two years earlier. In some ways it is something similar to what was done for the 2022 regulations, which were initially from 2021 and were then postponed due to Covid, I think it could be the same. There are about two years of development time, which for such important changes I think are absolutely needed” – he concluded.
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