Car
What could the 2026 Formula 1 cars look like - and how have the regulations shifted?
by Samarth Kanal
7min read
.jpg?cx=0.5&cy=0.5)
The 2026 Formula 1 technical regulations were announced in 2024 but have since been revised with a number of tweaks to aerodynamic surface and regulation boxes around the car.
Sign up for a weekly newsletter and we'll make sure you're fully up-to-date in the world of race technology
The next ruleset has been dubbed the "biggest reset in the last 50 years of Formula 1" by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, while simulations have led McLaren team principal Andrea Stella to say the new car could have "much more convincing" cornering speeds than the original set of 2026 regulations implied.
Throw in a new set of engine rules, increasing the power generated by the Motor Generator Unit - Kinetic (MGU-K), and F1 will be very different in 2026.
Regulations shift and change, however. The governing body, the FIA, has tweaked the ruleset that was originally announced in June 2024 to ensure its goals for car behaviour and performance are being met while also ensuring that the 11 F1 teams (with Cadillac joining the grid in 2026) are satisfied.
Overhead view of the 2026 F1 concept render (L) and a render of the previous generation of car (R) showing most notably a difference in length and floor size, among various other changes
Why have the 2026 Formula 1 technical regulations changed?
It isn't unusual to see proposed regulations change in the months leading up to their implementation - or even after their implementation. The 2024 Formula 1 technical regulations were reissued seven times over that season, for example.
The 2026 F1 technical regulations are now on their 10th issue, with the latest revision having been issued on December 11, 2024. Issue nine of the regulations brought the most significant changes to aerodynamics, while issue 10 added a few more, smaller, tweaks.
The FIA made these changes after conducting computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations as well as laptime simulations. It did not however feel the need to use the windtunnel, as it did to create the rules that were implemented in 2022.
It wanted the 2026 F1 cars to be faster than they would have been when the regulations were first announced by bringing their simulated laptimes closer to those of the 2024 F1 cars.
FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis said the latest regulation change "has brought the performance from what maybe was -40% compared to current [2024] cars to -15% in terms of downforce".
Our render of what the 2026 Formula 1 cars could look like as per issue 10 of the FIA’s 2026 technical regulations
.jpg?cx=0.5&cy=0.5)
Another area of concern for the FIA was, and continues to be, controlling aerodynamic wake. This is an effect in which a car disturbs airflow and makes it difficult for the car behind to follow and even overtake - which can perhaps make certain races 'less exciting' for viewers and drivers alike.
Tombazis added that, by not controlling the design of areas of the current cars including front wing endplates, floor edges and diffuser edges that can create vortices and therefore turbulent air, the FIA "missed a few tricks on the regulatory side".
"We believe we've learned from these [issues mentioned] on the 2026 regulations," he said.
What are the main areas that have changed in the latest 2026 regulations?
The floor is one of the most significant but least-visible areas of change in the latest revision to the 2026 F1 regulations.
The current 2026 F1 regulations mandate shorter Venturi tunnels - far shorter than mandated by the previous generation and shorter than previous iterations of the current technical regulations - underneath the car in order to reduce the reliance on the underfloor for creating downforce.
"The main driving force for that is we wanted to have cars that are not quite running as close to the ground as current cars," said Tombazis.
The FIA may not want cars running as close to the ground in order to reduce the bouncing or 'porpoising' effect endemic to the current generation of F1 cars, when they were first introduced in particular.
To balance the loss of downforce caused by having shorter Venturi tunnels, the new regulations have allowed for a longer diffuser with a slightly larger exit - therefore enhancing the low-pressure airflow underneath the car.
There are however other, more visible, changes to the latest 2026 F1 car.
Render showing the larger diffuser area allowed under the latest issue of the 2026 F1 technical regulations - much larger compared to the previous iteration outlined in red
2026 front wing
The front wings of the 2026 F1 cars will be narrower than the previous iteration and look markedly different too.
The front wing generates local downforce but also dictates how the rest of the car should be designed given air will be channelled downstream by this component.
Using the computer aided design (CAD) co-ordinates supplied within the latest technical regulations to give F1 car designers a legal area in which to develop their parts, it's clear to see that there is more room for teams to develop the outsides of their front wings.
<span style="letter-spacing: -0.16px;">Issue 10 of the 2026 F1 technical regulations (R) allows more room for development around this area than previously planned (L)</span>
The FIA now allows a fence underneath each side of the front wing - allowing teams to condition airflow more effectively to the front of the floor - and to achieve the same effect there's more room for teams to develop parts beyond the endplate of the front wing.
Tombazis said that this area, ahead of the front wheels, is possibly the "most significant" revision to the 2026 F1 regulations. Such a change allows teams to direct airflow to the floor with a lower chance of creating outwash air that generates turbulence.
<div>Our render of what front wings could look like on the new 2026 F1 cars<br></div>
.png?cx=0.5&cy=0.5)
2026 bargeboards and sidepods
The front of the floor has been reshaped to control turbulent wake created by the front wheels.
Tombazis said that "the numbers we [the FIA] have for wake performance is far better than anything we've had before, so we believe we've identified the areas where they have loopholes and tried to deteriorate this effect".
A much larger area of development has been allowed by the latest revision to the regulations, echoing the 'bargeboards' that were prevalent on F1 cars from the mid-1990s until 2022.
A front-on render showing a much larger area of development allowed by the new F1 technical regulations - which could mean large ‘fences’ channelling airflow underneath the car and preventing turbulent wake
Not only does this area of the car help reduce turbulent wake exuded by the front wheels towards following cars; it helps teams prevent that turbulent wake affecting the rear of the car and channel airflow around the sidepods for overall aerodynamic performance.
Cars might well continue sporting vanes ahead of the sidepods in order to channel airflow under the floor - while using devices further forward to enhance that effect.
Furthermore, teams have been given freer reign on how to develop the aerodynamics on the top of their sidepods, which could reveal some different designs come pre-season testing.
Comparison showing the boxes in which teams would be allowed to develop their cars’ bodywork within issue eight of the technical regulations (L, in red) compared to issue 10 of the regulations (R, in green)
Removing X-Mode and Z-Mode
X-Mode and Z-Mode created headlines when they were first announced but the 2026 F1 regulations have done away with those devices - replacing them with Straight-Line Mode and Corner Mode.
They will still be used in a similar way; Straight-Line Mode will be used to reduce drag and enhance top speed in most straight sections - unless the FIA deems certain straights to be too unsafe for this mode to be deployed.
Meanwhile, Corner Mode will be the default mode, and in the case that Straight-Line Mode fails the active aerodynamics will put the car back into Corner Mode.
Unlike the Drag Reduction System (DRS) currently used in F1, this overtaking system will change the incidence of both the front and rear wings. Furthermore, teams will be able to use hydraulic activation or electronic activation to trigger the modes.
The FIA has had to ensure a balance between the incidence of the front and rear wings in Straight-Line Mode, however, as the effect was previously causing excessive front downforce compared to the lack of rear downforce.
Tombazis said that the amount of drag from the rear wing will be reduced by around 40% compared to current cars when DRS is not deployed.
This system will be further tweaked in coming regulations to ensure a safe balance between front and rear downforce.
A rear view of what the 2026 F1 cars could look like given the latest F1 technical regulations
Will the 2026 F1 cars be slower than the previous generation?
F1 rules tweaks in recent years have generally meant slower cars for safety reasons - limiting speeds and ensuring the tyres do not undergo excessive stress.
It's no different in 2026; the next generation of F1 cars will be slower than the previous generation - but the latest revision to the regulations has reduced the likely disparity.
Tombazis said that the latest rules have made the cars two seconds faster than they would have been, in theory.
Of course, the 2026 F1 cars only exist in the form of renders and simulations. Teams were only able to begin developing the next generation of F1 cars on January 1, 2025, and it's unlikely that we'll see anything tangible until car launches begin in 2026.
Furthermore, the regulations themselves might change significantly over the year before they are finally ratified.
Renders by JustFormulaCar
.jpg?cx=0.5&cy=0.5)
.jpg?cx=0.5&cy=0.5)