Explained: The rule changes reshaping Formula 1 in 2026 — new engines, smaller cars, no DRS

So, as the season-opener Australian Grand Prix gets underway, we explain the key changes that are driving the world’s most popular motorsport class into a new era.

Smaller and lighter cars, narrower tyres

Over the years, F1 cars became heavier and wider, leaving drivers unhappy. In the 2026 season, however, the cars will be lighter, narrower and, consequently, nimbler. 

The maximum wheelbase length — which is the distance between the front and the rear axle — has been lowered by 200 mm to 3400mm. The car’s track width has been reduced by 100 mm. The minimum weight limit has been reduced to 768 kg from 800 kg last year.

These changes are expected to ensure more wheel-to-wheel racing, apart from adding to power and fuel efficiency. 

Additionally, the tyres for the 2026 season are narrower — the front tyres by 25 mm and the rears by 30 mm. These changes are expected to reduce drag and weight, but they can also affect grip, given the relatively smaller contact area.

Increased electrical capacity

F1 cars have been using hybrid power for over a decade, but it was an 80-20 split between the internal combustion and the energy recovery system. The new generation of engines, which remain 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrids, will be more reliant on electrical energy and advanced sustainable fuels. Around 50% of the power that the cars use will be electrical, while the remaining will come from internal combustion of sustainable fuels. 

The internal combustion engine (ICE) now has a reduced power output of around 400 kW from over 550 kW, while the motor generator unit–kinetic (MGU-K) is more powerful with electrical energy output nearly trebling to 350 kW. 

The practice session for the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday. AP

The motor generator unit — heat (MGU-H), which was a heavy and complex motor — is now gone. 

“The battery is now allowed to be recharged with more than double the previous 4 megajoules per lap, and in tandem with the increased electrical power output that places a greater emphasis on harvesting that energy,” the F1 website said.

Drivers are supposed to have more power at their disposal to make decisions over energy deployment, regeneration and conservation. Driver-operated energy deployment from the energy recovery system, which offers the driver maximum power from the engine and battery at the push of a button, can be used in attack or defence.

Drivers can recharge their battery with energy recovered from braking (regenerative braking), or on lifting the accelerator foot at the end of the straights or in corners where only partial power is applied. The changes essentially mean that energy management by drivers will become an important tactical factor in race performance as drivers will strive to harvest energy while keeping up their lap times.

“Regarding the electrical system, there is a finite amount of energy available — so how and when the driver uses it will be an important factor. That also means charging up the battery, to have energy to use in the first place, is just as important as deploying it… Recharge (mode) is available to a driver for those ‘quieter’ moments on track, when they can afford to tuck away a bit more electrical energy. Under the new regulations, cars will be able to harvest energy to charge the battery when braking, on part throttle, when lifting off (when a driver lifts off the throttle early) or when ‘super clipping’ (when some harvesting happens at the end of the straight when a car is still at full throttle),” the F1 website said.

Active aerodynamics

FI racecars now have active aerodynamics. This means they can dynamically adjust the angle of their front and rear wings depending on whether they are zipping past through the straight sections of the track or maneuvering the corners. 

The flaps will have two modes: Straight Mode and Corner Mode. On straight sections, the flaps will move to the ‘open’ position to reduce drag and increase speed. But on the corners, they will be in the ‘closed’ position to maintain downforce and provide grip.

Drivers will be allowed to activate the Straight Mode only in designated zones on the track. In wet track conditions, the Straight Mode will only be allowed for the car’s front wing to maintain rear downforce for better grip. Race authorities will also shorten the Straight Mode zones in wet conditions. The active aerodynamics are expected to provide efficiency gains as they would reduce drag on the straight and fast sections of the track, while still keeping the cars under control at corners.

Additionally, the front and rear wings are now relatively simplified. Wheel covers have been removed, which would aid in weight reduction. Bargeboards designed to direct turbulent airflow inboard from the front wheels have been included in order to reduce the car’s outwash, or the pushing of turbulent air away from the car that can disturb the car behind. This change is expected to allow the cars to follow one another more closely.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri during the practice session for the Australian Grand Prix, Saturday. AP

DRS out, Overtake Mode in

With full active aerodynamics now in place, the similar drag reduction system (DRS) — in place for 15 years — has been replaced with the so-called ‘Overtake Mode’, which offers drivers an electric energy boost when they are within a second of the car in front to deploy power to assist with an overtake. 

And unlike DRS, which was available to drivers only at designated straights, the overtake mode will be available for use for the whole of the next lap “if a car gets to within one second of the car it is chasing at a designated point on the track”.

When the overtake mode isn’t activated, the electrical deployment will start falling once it breached 290 kilometres per hour. This appears to be for two objectives — to prevent cars from hitting dangerously high speeds with the availability of the straight mode and electrical boost, and also to provide an advantage to a car in overtake mode.

“With the mode available, a driver can recharge an extra +0.5 MJ (megajoules) and generate an additional electrical power profile to allow them to sustain a higher speed for a longer period,” the F1 website said.

F1 cars now also have a boost button, allowing drivers to take manual control of energy deployment when they attack or defend. The activation of the boost button changes the power unit settings either to maximum power or an already-configured profile. Drivers are expected to employ the boost mode tactically, mostly in wheel-to-wheel racing situations that require them to overtake a rival or defend their position.

Powered by advanced sustainable fuel

Along with the new hybrid power units, even the fuel that will be used by the internal combustion engine will be quite different this season. Instead of being derived from crude oil, the ‘advanced sustainable fuel’ will be sourced from sustainable feedstocks that are not in competition with food crops. These feedstocks include municipal waste and non-food biomass; the fuel can also be produced using technologies like carbon capture—harnessing carbon from the air and industrial emissions. The advanced sustainable fuel has to be a drop-in fuel, which means that it should be designed to replace fossil fuels without requiring any adjustment to the engine.

“In basic terms, that (advanced sustainable fuel) is anything second-generation that is not in competition with the food chain. That could be residues from different industries or even organic waste, with the FIA measuring the CO2 equivalent to every step, in order to also control the processes to extract the molecules,” the F1 website said. The fuel that each team used will have to be certified as fully sustainable by a third party on behalf of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the world motorsport governing body. In 2020, the FIA had set the target of using fully sustainable fuels by 2026 as part of its objective of achieving net-zero status for its motorsport activities.

Whether or not using sustainable fuel will have an impact on performance remains to be seen. One key factor here is that F1 teams have their own fuel suppliers and the sustainable fuel blends would be different for different teams.