Radical changes for 2026 F1 cars: active aero, reduced mass and auto crash prevention. Radical changes for 2026 F1 cars.

Formula 1 cars have changed significantly this year, but the changes could be even more radical in 2026. The next generation of cars are set to be smaller, with active aerodynamics for less drag, reduced fuel tanks and communications systems from car to car to prevent accidents.

Following the F1 Commission which took place this week in London, the FIA revealed its broad targets for regulation changes that will take effect in 2026, including active aero, smaller cars, auto crash prevention and the use of sustainable materials.

F1 chief technical officer Pat Symonds explained the ideas he thinks could be pursued to achieve this, while pointing out that this was not necessarily discussed during this meeting:

“It’s active aero – absolutely,” said Pat Symonds, in an interview for motorsportmagazine.com about how the low drag targets – and therefore greater fuel efficiency – could be achieved – “You can’t just reduce drag to cut fuel consumption because the car won’t go round corners. So it’s all about active aero – having two modes to the car effectively. So rather different to DRS, there’s a mode where the car has high downforce and consequently high drag when it’s in the corner, and a mode where it has low drag when it’s on the straight and consequently low downforce. That’s a simplistic view [and] there are variations to that, but that’s essentially the real basis of what active aero for future F1 is about.” – he explained.

F1’s chief technical officer also talked about a key aspect that has been criticized by both fans and drivers during the last few years, but which Formula 1 and the FIA are hard at work to change: “One of the things we want to do is make the cars a little smaller because they’ve grown massively over the last few years. We’ve put a limitation on wheelbase for the 2022 car, which in my view was was generous. My 2014 Williams was actually shorter than the current regulations require, so it can be done [though] it needs a little bit thinking about. Our aim is to make quite a significant [further] reduction in wheelbase [in 2026].”

Pat Symonds then pointed out a way which could lead to reducing the 2026 cars’ size, linking this to the 2026 engines and aero package: “The fuel carry for the race will be less, so that also helps by taking some volume of the fuel tank away. The amount of hybridisation is increasing – the power of the internal combustion engine is going down and the power of the electrical machines is going up, so immediately you are using less fuel. Most significant though is the drag reduction, because that’s where the majority of the power is going i.e. dragging cars through the air. There will be a reasonable reduction in fuel consumed during the race – my estimate for the moment be 20 per cent, maybe even 25 per cent, less than when we are using at the moment.” – he continued.

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British motor racing engineer highlighted Formula 1 efforts to begin reusing materials in a bid to become more eco-friendly and sustainable – instead of relying on bringing in more sustainable materials which cars are built from in the first place.

“Cars are built the way they are, because that’s the best way to do it.” he says. “There are certain materials where we really do need to think a lot about recycling, because of difficulty of getting them and the conditions around those, like nickels and cobalts. In the batteries we think there’s a lurking concern there. It’s all very well, people saying, ‘When batteries come out of a road vehicle they can be second purposed,’ but that only goes up to a point. We believe that it’s really important that recycling is an important part of the whole electrical system for the next generation of cars, so we’ll be doing quite a lot of work in that area.” – he added.

Pat Symonds also confirmed the new technology the FIA is evaluating for implementation will help prevent accidents, while at the same time admitted the difficulties in reducing car size without affecting their safety.

“One of the areas we are looking at is car to car communication. A car know will if there’s a car in front of it travelling slowly. Secondary safety is about absorbing energy which needs length and distance to deform in, so it is quite a tricky thing.” – he concluded.