Formula One is braced for a new era following a major overhaul of its regulations.
Here, former W Series champion and Sky Sports F1 pundit Jamie Chadwick, who has pledged 5,000 free karting sessions for girls in a significant new initiative, assesses the 2026 regulations for the Press Association.
Is this the biggest regulation change in recent Formula One history?
Yes, and there are two reasons for that. Firstly, because of the characteristics of the car. They are lighter, smaller and the power unit is now half combustion and half electrical energy, which is very different to anything we have seen before.
But it is the demands on the driver, and how they have to deal with these new cars which is the greatest shift. There have been regulation changes in the past where the philosophy is effectively the same; there are two pedals and a steering wheel and the driver can just jump in. However, they are starting from scratch here with so much to learn.
What will it be like for the drivers then?
Qualifying used to be flat-out. But now you can no longer deploy everything you have got because you will run out of battery. The car needs to be managed across a whole lap to get the most effective use out of your combustion engine and hybrid power unit.
So, there will be certain places on a track where a driver can use full deployment and shift through the gears quickly to obtain a huge amount of power. But in other places it will be the opposite, and they will be in the management phase, lifting off the throttle early to help the battery recover and recharge.
Both the front and rear wings will now move to reduce drag, and during the race, drivers will also be able to deploy the ‘overtake’ button which provides an extra boost of power.
However, the compromise of using the new mode is that you will burn more energy and when you get to the exit of the corner, you are potentially going to have a battery that doesn’t have as much juice as the driver you have just overtaken which leaves you vulnerable to attack.
Max Verstappen said Formula One is now like “Formula E on steroids”. Are the new cars too complicated?
It is too early to say. We haven’t had a race, and until we have seen the regulations in action, we cannot say whether it is good or bad.Yes, it is certainly more complex and is not what Formula One has historically been about, which is a flat-out approach, but I don’t think that it is a bad thing as long as the spectacle reflects great racing and rewards the best driver from a driving point of view, and an intelligence point of view, too.
Which teams impressed in testing?
Mercedes. George Russell has been waiting for this moment. He will be hungry to maximise the opportunity and my money is on him to win the world title.
Nobody was expecting Red Bull’s new power unit to run as efficiently and as reliably as it did in testing, and with Max Verstappen at the wheel, he will get the absolute most out if it.
There is a question mark over Ferrari because they have been quite radical in their approach. But they look strong, and the lighter and smaller cars will suit Lewis Hamilton. For Lando Norris, the confidence he has gained from winning the title is going to be significant. We will see a more relaxed Norris this year. He will be in a really strong headspace to get the most out of his McLaren.
:: The Jamie Chadwick Series is offering 5000 free karting sessions for girls at Daytona Motorsport tracks across the country. Registrations will open on March 8 on International Women’s Day.
