F1\u2019s team principals are hopeful the sport\u2019s radical new regulations for 2026 may provide new opportunities for overtaking.<\/p>\n
Formula 1 is set for sweeping regulation changes next season with revised power units and new, adjustable, aerodynamics which will provide drivers with two primary \u2018modes\u2019 of configuration that they change between out on track.<\/p>\n
Drivers, such as Max Verstappen, have previously expressed concerns about how the new regulations will affect racing and overtaking in the world championship after trying early simulations of the regulations in their teams\u2019 simulators. However, Aston Martin team principal Andy Cowell expects that fans will enjoy a different kind of racing to what they currently witness with the current 2025 cars.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019ll be interesting to see what the overtaking is like next year with the new regulations,\u201d he said. \u201cWe may well see more overtaking.\u201d <\/p>\n
Williams team principal James Vowles agrees with Cowell that racing will likely take on a different flavour with the new regulations.<\/p>\n
\u201cOvertaking will be different, but it will happen,\u201d Vowles said. \u201cIt\u2019ll just be in a different way to what you\u2019re used to now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said this in a different forum, but the drivers had a go once and thought, \u201cthis isn\u2019t great.\u201d Then the second time, they went, \u201cthat\u2019s interesting.\u201d Then by the third or fourth time \u2014 as they\u2019re race drivers \u2014 they were actually really into it. And there\u2019s a very different way of optimising it as a solution, and they can see how the advantage can come in. So from that perspective, I think it will be interesting. <\/p>\n
\u201cI do think it will increase overtaking \u2013 just not in the areas you think it will. That\u2019s probably the right way of putting it. The challenge is, frankly, that everything changes. So there\u2019s a lot of learning that we\u2019re going through almost week-by-week, especially on the energy side \u2013 how we use it in the most efficient way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen believes that 2026\u2019s F1 cars will be \u201cno faster down the straights\u201d than 2025, but \u201cslower around the corners.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLap times will be less than they are at the moment, but I don\u2019t think that will detract from the racing,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat overtaking will be like remains to be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free<\/a><\/p>\n Vowles believes that drivers will be under more pressure in the cockpit to maximise the performance of their cars next season compared to what they are now.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the way the [2026] rules are at the moment, they will be busier in the cockpit,\u201d he explained. \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s a bad thing. <\/p>\n \u201cI think you\u2019ll get those that come out on top as a result of it. Those that are completely in control of the car and its behaviours and then thinking outside the box. Probably the right way of putting it is, you can almost fill the entire battery in one braking zone, but you can deplete it in one straight. That\u2019s for sure. And so that creates a very different dynamic to what we have this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether the new regulations could allow for new overtaking opportunities to emerge at areas of circuits where it is currently considered to be difficult \u2013 such as into Monaco\u2019s harbour chicane exiting the tunnel \u2013 Vowles believes the new rules promote more chances for drivers to be creative when racing.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll probably protect the regions with energy deployment where overtaking is most likely to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n So taking, for example, the Monaco tunnel, I think it\u2019s unlikely you\u2019ll get a differential through there. But I think you\u2019ll move away from, say, Spa-Francorchamps. Your typical overtaking point is, for example, up into turn five (Les Combes). That\u2019s one of the main areas. Actually, it opens up the door for a few other areas around that lap. That\u2019s probably the right way of putting it to you.\u201d<\/p>\n Cowell also agrees that there is the potential for new racing opportunities to be provoked by the new regulations.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019ll be some surprises,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free<\/a><\/p>\n