Formula 1 Wants Lighter Cars, Closer Racing - But Will Changes ...

Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen races during the second practice session for the 2024 ... [+] Canada Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada, on June 7, 2024. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

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FIA’s announcement on Thursday of the highly-anticipated new regulations was met with a mixture of optimism and trepidation.

Formula 1’s recent history suggests that to be the right approach, for long-awaited change has not always been for the better.

To relatively limited fanfare, world motorsport’s governing body set out the changes that will become effective from the beginning of the 2026 season.

The new regulations will affect both the chassis and the power unit, with cars set to be lighter and narrower.

Lighter and shorter cars from 2026

The minimum weight will be reduced by 30kg to 768kg, while the wheelbase will 20cm shorter - down from the current 360cm to 340cm - and 10cm narrower - down from 200cm to 190cm - respectively.

FIA’s aims is to make the cars more ‘nimble’ and improve the concept of ‘raceability’, which was first introduced in Formula 1 in 2022 in a bid to allow the drivers to race as close together as possible.

The main aerodynamic change will see the drag reduction system (DRS) no longer be deployed as an overtaking aid, which has been the case since it was first introduced in 2011.

Instead, the movable rear wing will open automatically on straights in order to reduce drag at every opportunity. The same will apply to the new ‘active’ front wings, which will open automatically to increase speed but close to improve downforce when the cars are turning.

The engines, meanwhile, will use fully sustainable fuels and have a near 50-50 split between electric and internal combustion power, with the new ‘Manual Override Mode’ designed to allow drivers to deploy more electrical power when they are following another car in a bid to improve overtaking.

The new power units will triple the amount of electrical power used. The changes have convinced Honda to reverse its decision to quit Formula 1, while Audi and Ford will join the sport, bringing the number of engine manufacturers up to six in 2026.

In layman’s terms, the FIA is aiming to introduce smaller and lighter cars with engines run on fully sustainable fuel.

So far, so promising and, some would argue, long overdue too.

Will the aerodynamic changes have an impact?

MONTE-CARLO, MONACO - MAY 26: Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Ferrari SF-24 leads Oscar ... [+] Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL38 Mercedes and Carlos Sainz of Spain driving (55) the Ferrari SF-24 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on May 26, 2024 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

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But peel the curtains back and not may all be what it seems.

Lewis Hamilton has praised the renewed focus on sustainability but has already questioned whether the size changes will have a significant impact.

"It’s only 30kg so it’s going in the right direction but they’re still heavy,” the seven-time world champion told BBC Sport.

"I have spoken to some drivers who have driven it on the simulator - I haven’t - and they said it’s pretty slow so we will see if it’s the right direction or not.”

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez was similarly cautious.

“I hope there is room for works to be done, because 30kg seems absolutely nothing to me, I think there is a lot more [weight] to reduce,” he told Fox Sports Mexico.

“The cars also look very slow.”

A relatively competitive field is paramount to the popularity of any league, and even more so for the likes of Formula 1 which has broken new ground since Liberty Media took control of the sport in 2017.

For all the razzmatazz of Netflix’s Drive to Survive series, fans old and new aren’t likely to stick around if the championship turns into a procession as it did last season, when Max Verstappen won 19 out of 22 races with Red Bull triumphing in all but one Grand Prix.

Radical changes seldom work in Formula 1

And yet, changes in Formula 1 seldom provides the shot in the arm the sport’s administrators crave.

In fact, they often consign a dominant era to history only to usher in a new ruler.

When in 2014 Formula 1 moved away from the 2.4-litre V8 engine configuration it had used between 2006 and 2013 in favour of the current 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engine that included an energy recovery system in its unit, the changes were hailed as a major reset.

And while they did stop Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull from winning a fifth consecutive title, they also paved the way for an era of unprecedented dominance.

Mercedes won the next eighth constructor championships, with Hamilton winning six titles between 2014 and 2021 and his teammate Nico Rosberg triumphing in 2016.

The Briton’s stranglehold on the sport was only broken by the most extraordinary finale to a championship in history, as Verstappen pipped him to the post in the final lap of the last race of the 2021 season in Abu Dhabi in controversial circumstances.

Not only did new regulations introduced the following season deprived fans of a rematch between the two rivals, they tilted the balance of play completely the other way much as they had done eight years earlier.

British Mercedes-AMG Formula One racing team racing driver Lewis Hamilton driving his F1 W05 racing ... [+] car at speed across the finish line while raising his arms and clenching his fists in celebration of winning the race and the 2014 world drivers' championship the during the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on the 23rd November 2014. (Photo by Darren Heath/Getty Images)

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Red Bull got ahead of their competitors from the beginning of the 2022 season and haven’t looked back, winning 38 races out of 44 over the past two campaigns.

It is a salutary reminder to Formula 1 that changes, no matter how good the intentions behind them, don’t always deliver the expected results.

At the same time, Red Bull have looked distinctly fallible over the past month with Verstappen winning just once in the last three races.

There may just be light at the end of the tunnel for those desperate to see some close racing.