Formula 1 fans have just received their first glimpse of the new-look 2026 cars. The drivers and teams are facing one of the biggest regulation changes in the sport’s recent history.
In the announcement ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, F1 outlined how it planned to improve racing. First and foremost, the cars will become both smaller (by 10cm in width) and lighter (by 30kg).
The aim of the previous ruleset was to encourage closer battles across the field. But drivers have continued to struggle to follow other cars closely given the aerodynamic complexity of their machinery and the ‘dirty air’ they produce.
They will now be able to move the front and rear wings of their cars on the straights. This will allow them to reduce drag and, in turn, increase their straight-line speed.
The ‘ground effect’ era will come to an end thanks to a revised underbody. Adrian Newey and Red Bull have been the masters of this generation of cars, producing the most dominant campaign in F1 history last year.
On the engine front, the cars will now run on sustainable fuels and rely much more heavily on electrical power. Audi will enter the sport as an engine manufacturer, while Ford will team up with Red Bull Powertrains.
F1 fans celebrate the end of DRS
Another major change for 2026 sees DRS scrapped. Since 2011, drivers have been able to open a gap in their rear wing when within one second of the car ahead in designated DRS zones.
This has made it considerably easier to execute a move on the straights given the resulting speed advantage. But the system has remained unpopular with many fans.
Some believe that drivers shouldn’t be given artificial assistance when battling their rivals. And other say that it has actually damaged the spectacle by producing less spectacular passes.
Drivers will still have an overtaking aid available to them, but this time it will be in the form of electrical energy. They will be able to use their ‘manual override mode’ to harness more power when hunting down another car.
When asked by Motorsport.com on X whether they were ‘happy that DRS will be gone’, many F1 fans expressed their delight. @PlatinumX7 is pleased that DRS ‘trains’, which see a series of close-running cars unable to overtake because each of them is enjoying the straight-line benefit, are no more.
@kunalsen81284 says drivers will now have ‘more scope’ to ‘showcase their raw talent’, while @stormfuelF1 is thrilled that the technology has ‘finally’ been abandoned. @IanJamesSeale was ‘very, very, very’ satisfied with the news.
@Nunuk0_17 believes fans will now see which drivers are ‘cunning’ enough to overtake without the DRS aid. And finally, @cdinevski basked in the demise of what they called a ‘stupid’ system.
Oscar Piastri issues four-word response as DRS scrapped
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was one of the first to issue his reaction after F1 confirmed that the 2026 cars wouldn’t feature DRS. The Australian faced issues with the rear-wing flap on his car during his title-winning Formula 3 campaign in 2020.
So there was perhaps a hint of sarcasm when he wrote ‘Goodbye old friend, DRS’ on his X account. If the spectacle improves in F1’s new era, DRS’ longtime detractors will see it as vindication, but some may also mourn its loss if overtaking becomes even more difficult without it.
It’s undeniably vital for F1 to nail the new regulations. The sport has followed up one of its greatest-ever seasons in 2021 (when Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen fought tooth-and-nail for the title) with two years of unprecedented Red Bull dominance.
Lando Norris is among those to suggest that Verstappen’s recent stranglehold on the sport has become ‘boring’. There are finally signs that McLaren and Ferrari are closing up, and fans will hope that the rules reset doesn’t scupper the close fight at the front.
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