What you need to know about new F1 2026 rules meeting

Further ideas to tweak Formula 1’s 2026 rules – both in the short and long term – are up for discussion on Friday in the latest round of talks between teams and the FIA.

Off the back of a first package of refinements that came into play for the Miami Grand Prix, the FIA has been open about the need to be open-minded in taking further steps.

This is why Friday's get-together between teams, manufacturers, the FIA and F1 is the latest step in a series of meetings to get the regulations into a better place - with proposals for improvements for this year and beyond up for evaluation and potential approval.

Not if but when

There is a growing consensus among teams in the paddock that the debate should not be about whether more is needed to improve things. Instead, it is now about what exactly can be done and how quickly.

As McLaren boss Andrea Stella declared at the Miami Grand Prix: “Hardware adjustments to the power unit in order to improve F1 in general, I personally think, are required.”

The package of tweaks agreed by teams, F1 and the FIA ahead of the Miami GP was a step in the right direction in terms of reducing concerns about safety and getting rid of some of the worst car behaviours in qualifying.

However, pulling back harvesting limits and boosting the power of super clipping were only ever going to be sticking plaster solutions for the fundamental problem that F1 faces: that the cars are energy starved.

The pursuit of the 50-50 power split between the internal combustion engine and electrical element, allied to getting rid of the extra harvesting that was previously enjoyed from the MGU-H, means there is not enough energy going into the battery for what ideally needs to be produced.

With one of the fundamentals of physics being that energy cannot be created or destroyed, then it is obvious that if F1 wants more energy out, then it needs to put more energy in.

This is why discussions have shifted to the potential hardware tweaks that Stella references, in adjusting the power contribution of the internal combustion engine and battery component.

Sources suggest that increasing the ICE power by around 50kW, potentially boosting harvesting limits from 350kW to 400kW-450kW, and either allowing bigger batteries or pulling back electrical deployment, would be enough to allow more flat-out running.

However, there are technical complications to achieving this. An increase of ICE power could be achieved easily through ramping up the fuel flow, but this would require manufacturers to rework their power unit for reliability reasons.

The current designs have components designed to run at power levels as they are now – so a boosted engine could push parts over the edge.

There are also chassis implications to a fuel flow increase, because this would require more fuel to be used in a race and therefore bigger fuel tanks for the cars.

With it understood that some teams are considering, for cost cap reasons, carrying over their chassis in 2027, a change of fuel tank size requirement would be a problem.

Both these elements are why there is likely to be some resistance to a big hardware change for next year – something that frustrates drivers like Carlos Sainz.

“It’s just getting all the teams [that are] politically opposed to agree, which is what's holding everything back,” said the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association director.

“You give the teams so much power in the end, especially the PU manufacturers that are going to fight like hell for their own interests.”

Asked if waiting until 2028 was too long, Sainz said: “I wish ‘27. I think at least me or us on the GPDA side we're going to push for 27.

“I have a Mercedes PU and I could be very opposed to changing too much, even the little advantage that Mercedes and Red Bull have as an engine. But for the good of the sport, I would still do plenty of changes for ‘27 if I was at the top.”

Looking elsewhere

Despite the political aspects in play that may restrict major hardware tweaks until 2028, it does not mean refinements to the rules cannot be made in other areas to help before then.

Adjustments could be made to the electrical components to help better balance things up.

One other area being looked at, as revealed by The Race, is to reduce downforce levels for next year.

The idea, which could potentially pull things back by up to 50 points of downforce, is that by having cars slower through corners, the increased braking will boost harvesting capabilities.

Other suggestions include one that Mercedes in particular is pushing for, which relates to the active aero rules.

The high drag of modern F1 machinery when the wings are not open is a big factor in burning through deployment, so anything to help increase areas on the track where straight mode can be used would help.

Teams have discussed the idea of lifting all restrictions regarding where the different aero modes can be used – which would allow much more use of straight mode.

While there are safety concerns about such an extreme change, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff thinks that the FIA could be braver in extending straight mode zones.

“We will never be against making the show even better,” said Wolff. “I'm thinking about SM modes.

“I think we need much more straight line speed in SM modes. We need to be courageous in doing that.

“In the mid-term, we are not opposed to whether we could extract a bit more performance out of the ICE. Great. But give us enough lead time so we can actually do it.”