A two-step fix: Nikolas Tombazis outlines FIA’s plan to improve F1 driveability and safety. FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis says Formula 1 does not need a radical overhaul.

Rules under discussion

Nicholas Tombazis is one of the key figures within the FIA’s technical department, serving as the governing body’s single-seater director. The Greek engineer — a former Ferrari employee — has frequently found himself tasked with explaining and clarifying decisions made by motorsport’s governing authority.

These are crucial days for the near future of Formula 1, as has been widely reported in recent weeks. Last Thursday, a first meeting was held to analyse the data gathered from the opening three Grands Prix of the 2026 season and to put forward initial proposals for regulatory adjustments that could already be implemented ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.

In an interview given a few days ago to The Guardian, Nikolas Tombazis expressed confidence in the ongoing decision-making process: “We are not discussing a complete rewrite of the rules. We believe the patient is not in intensive care. The patient only needs a couple of apples a day, not open-heart surgery.”

Tombazis: “Changes for drivability and safety”

The Greek engineer explained that the focus is currently split across two main areas of concern: drivability for the drivers and safety.

“There are issues we need to address both from a drivability point of view for the drivers and from a safety perspective,” he said. “I don’t like going around saying everything is fine, but I also don’t like saying everything is a disaster. We have fans who are satisfied with the spectacle, but we also have to deal with an incident caused by specific factors that we need to fix, and some drivers who believe certain things should be improved.”

He was referring in particular to Oliver Bearman’s accident at Suzuka. Nikolas Tombazis added: “Every high-speed accident is always a shock. Saying it was predictable would be wrong, but the speed differential had been identified as a risk. We had discussed it, but it was not easy to act before having time to analyse certain parameters. When changes are introduced too quickly, the risk is that you make things worse or create additional problems. But safety is the number one priority.”

Nikolas Tombazis continued: “These energy management rules will not require hardware changes, but rather adjustments to settings and software. These are changes that can be introduced very quickly and that go to the heart of the issues, both in terms of speed differences between cars and driver satisfaction.”

The FIA technical director finally hinted at a possible roadmap with updates split into two phases: “We could decide to have a phase one and a phase two, and give a bit more time to phase two to allow manufacturers to make certain modifications.”

Nikolas Tombazis’ “two-phase” strategy highlights the delicate balancing act the FIA must perform: fixing genuine technical flaws without penalizing teams like Mercedes who seem to have mastered the new power unit formula early on. While software tweaks may solve the immediate safety concerns surrounding speed differentials, the long-term challenge remains ensuring that “driving an apple a day” doesn’t stifle the raw, high-performance DNA that fans expect from the pinnacle of motorsport.