No big laptime drop for F1 cars in 2026 – Tombazis

Formula 1 cars will be “hardly any slower” once the radical new rules are in force in 2026.

That’s the claim of FIA single seater boss Nikolas Tombazis, allaying fears that the move to even more electrical engine energy will cost several seconds per lap in laptime.

At the latest F1 Commission and World Motor Sport Council meetings, both held in October, stakeholders responded to fears that the 2026 cars will be sluggishly slow with a series of amendments to the technical regulations.

“These involve an increase of the expected aerodynamic performance of the cars following extensive collaboration between the teams and the FIA over the last few months,” the FIA confirmed.

Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt explained: “The improved rules give the engineers more freedom in the area of the front wing, the wheel covers, the sidepods and the diffuser.

“Work is still underway on the areas around the rear wheels.”

In total, the changes give engineers 50 points of additional downforce to play with, compared to the original 2026 rules. “Overall,” said Schmidt, “the downforce is no longer reduced by 40 percent compared to today, but only 15 percent.”

Tombazis told reporters in Austin that laptimes in 2026 will “not be far from those of the current cars”.

And he added: “The new cars will also be better in traffic.”

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