F1 will have one of its biggest regulation changes in the sport’s history as the 2026 season will bring about changes to both the chassis and the engine side of the cars. However, F1 design guru Adrian Newey has recently said that the new regulations could turn out to be a total disaster for the on-track racing action.
The 2026 cars will feature a power unit with power output equally split between the internal combustion engine and the electrical unit. The MGU-K will deliver 350kW of energy, almost triple the current output of 120kW.
The new cars will also feature active aerodynamic components, which have been introduced to reduce the overall drag on the new chassis. And while it’s a step in the right direction for F1’s goal to become carbon-neutral by 2030, Newey says that’s not the right way to approach new rules in F1.
Newey believes that preference should always be given to the chassis side of the regulation instead of the engines is the case for 2026. “There is still a lot of concern that, actually, the cars will be going significantly slower at the end of straight than at the start of the straight because they just run out of battery,” Newey told Autocar as per pitinsider.com.
: Adrian Newey warns that upcoming changes to F1 power units in 2026 will make the cars considerably slower. The new regulations aim to reduce costs and promote sustainability by using fully sustainable fuels and increasing electrical power. Despite still producing over 1,000… pic.twitter.com/zIy52BPRHf
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Christian Horner and Max Verstappen had also previously raised concerns about the new engine regulations. They stated that according to the simulator and dyno data that they have seen, the cars would need to downshift much before entering the braking zone after a long straight as that would be the only fastest way to go around the track.
Horner even went as far as saying that the 2026 cars could become a technical Frankenstein as the chassis will have to overcompensate to suit the new engine regulations using active aerodynamics and other tricks.
Newey believes F1 wants to keep the OEMs happy
The British engineer also explained that the decisions concerning the changes in the power unit regulations have been made to keep a few of the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) happy and possibly even attract new ones. The FIA has been able to do so with the addition of Audi as a new works team for 2026.
“It was a regulation that was brought in really, I think, primarily to keep the existing OEMs, the manufacturers in, and hopefully attract new ones. In that sense, you can argue it’s been successful. But what the show and the spectacle will be, I think it’s a concern,” Newey added.
However, he fears that prioritizing the power unit over the chassis of the new cars will hurt the individuality of the cars as more and more teams will be forced to use the same solutions, hurting the reputation of the sport.
