Formula 1 has started discussions around whether to make small rule changes for the rest of the 2026 season.
On Thursday, the first of three meetings will take place aimed at deciding potential tweaks to the sport’s controversial new regulations.
The new cars, a product of the biggest rule change in F1 history, have been the subject of much debate.
At the heart of the controversy is the 50-50 split in the sport’s new hybrid engines between combustion and electrical power, which has seen a heavy reliance on battery harvesting and deployment.
F1’s new cars have created a much more back and forth style of racing in terms of overtakes, but the new style required to drive the cars — and the lifting and coasting required in certain areas to harvest battery power — has been an area of criticism.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen has likened the cars to all-electrical series Formula E “on steroids” and Mario Kart, and said anyone enjoying the new style of overtaking doesn’t understand what real racing is about.
Reigning world champion Lando Norris has said F1 went from the best cars ever to the worst with one regulation change, while two-time champion Fernando Alonso has labelled the new Formula 1 the “battery world championship.”
Key F1 and FIA figures insist the change has been positive for the sport and point to what they say has been overwhelmingly positive fan feedback about the changes.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, the sport’s most accomplished driver statistically, has disagreed with the criticism, saying the new cars are “the best form of racing” the sport has had during his long career.
The 50-50 split will be at the heart of Thursday’s preliminary discussion between technical figures in the sport, but it will not lead to any immediate decisions.
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A second meeting will follow later this month, before a key third meeting on April 20 between team chiefs and F1 boss Stefano Domenicali which will decide on which changes should be made pre-Miami.
The cancellation of two races in the Middle East, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, this month has allowed F1 and the governing FIA to discuss realistic solutions.
ESPN understands no major changes to the formula itself are likely ahead of the next race, with the tweaks likely to centre around improving the qualifying spectacle, to reduce the phenomenon known as “super-clipping,” and safety adjustments to address the alarming difference in speeds drivers caused by drivers harvesting and deploying energy in very different ways at different moments.
That new feature of the cars led to a scary near-miss between Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Bearman narrowly missed Colapinto’s Alpine as it slowed dramatically while losing speed on the approach to the Spoon corner.
Different engine manufacturers have different processes and software dictating when and where they harvest and deploy energy, which has seen some major discrepancies at speed around the lap of all three races so far.
At Suzuka, having avoided Colapinto, Bearman spun out and hit the wall, suffering a minor knee injury in the process.
Carlos Sainz, director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA), criticised F1 and the FIA after that race for not listening to driver concerns about that exact scenario happening, saying the sport was reluctant to make changes due to the “racing being entertaining.”
As for qualifying, teams and drivers appear to be in agreement that something has to change, with the effect of lifting and coasting through corners lessening the spectacle of an all-or-nothing flying lap.
After the Japanese Grand Prix, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said: “If it were up to me — and we definitely need to look at this — how can we get that one fast, brutal qualifying lap again? And how can we reduce the lift and coast? That’s definitely something we need to do.”
That will likely be achieved through changes to the amount of harvesting and deployment cars are required to do around a lap.
F1 will also look to tackle “super-clipping,” the moment drivers have found their top speed drop off while at full throttle as the energy is diverted from the engine to the battery.
One way to do this might be to allow a faster recovery in that state, effectively meaning cars can recharge sooner and spent less time in the “super-clipping” phase.
More general tweaks might also be considered around the software which now governs the complicated new engines.
F1 has been keen to stress that these meetings are not about radically changing the whole format — or even anything close to a consideration of binning it completely.
More major discussions are likely to follow in 2026 about more radical changes for 2027, but the sport’s key figures have all warned against making massive knee-jerk reactions so early into the season.
The Miami Grand Prix takes place on May 3 at a circuit which snakes around the exterior of the Hard Rock Stadium.
