The new regulations implemented by teams and the FIA might see more than a two-second improvement per lap for the new 2026 F1 cars. The plans for the next generation of F1 cars were initially unveiled ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, but subsequent reservations over the performance of the proposals reduced efforts to sharpen these regulations.
According to Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA's head of single-seater matters, significant improvements in car performance came with the regulations that now mean cars are only about one second slower than current models.
"There has been an increase of performance of the car by probably about 50 points of downforce. This has brought the performance from what maybe was minus 40% compared to current cars, to around minus 15% in terms of downforce. In terms of performance, the resulting lap time of the cars is very close to current cars. All that has been done as was promised in June. If we had made no change after June, I guess it would have been probably approximately another two seconds slower," Tombazis said.
Regulatory Modifications
Some of these focal points of regulatory modifications were laid out by Tombazis, particularly in enhancing downforce and in overall lap times. In major adjustments, aerodynamics were apparently modified for these reasons:
Front Wing Adjustments: The box in which the front wing sits has been enlarged, and a front wing fence similar to those in previous designs has been reintroduced.
Innovative Devices: New space has been allocated for aerodynamic devices at the front of the floor, specifically on the sideboard and its leading edge.
Larger Diffuser: The diffuser has been redesigned to extend further forward and is larger overall.
Bodywork Redesign: Changes have also been made to the bodywork around the front wheels with additional adjustments to the rear bodywork.
Meanwhile, the ‘floorboard’ may now have three sections, rather than two, and its dimensional constraints have been adjusted accordingly. To help reduce flexion on the floor assembly there’s now scope for more metal stays, as their number increases from two to three, whilst six-floor board stays are also permitted.
The alterations, albeit not excessive, provide enough potential to increase the downforce for this new generation of cars, as they’re interconnected, with changes made from front to rear.
