FIA open to "adjustments" to F1 2026 rules after driver complaints:
— The FIA is considering feedback from Formula 1 drivers regarding the 2026 regulations. Nikolas Tombazis, FIA single-seater director, noted that while most of the work is satisfactory, they remain open to adjustments:
“The cars are new. In the period of last summer and last autumn, a lot of people were driving the simulators and expressing huge concerns. I think the comments in Barcelona and in Bahrain are certainly much better than what people [said based] on the simulator. But there are still some comments, like what Max said.”
“We are completely conscious that we may need to make adjustments. That has been a discussion we've been open about with the teams and the PU manufacturers for a long, long time. And with the drivers, indeed. So I think there are some ways that we can act as a sport to make adjustments in the rules.”
— Max Verstappen expressed concerns about energy deployment, suggesting that drivers are "energy poor" on straights. Tombazis emphasized that the overall situation is positive, with 90% of the work deemed successful:
“We think we are not in a bad place where we are now. But if there needs to be some adjustments following these comments, we will discuss them all collectively as a sport and do what's needed.”
“I think if you take the comments that have been made in November or October or last summer, I think we are way, way better now. We've addressed a lot of the concerns. Have we addressed every single concern? No. I think there are some topics that are still open.”
“We are learning as we go along. And the first real test will be the first race, because here they're not really racing each other and so on. These changes do need a bit of discussion. There may be a few weeks of discussion, and we also need to go through the governance process.”
“We'll take the decision for the best of the sport. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I definitely hope that Australia will be exciting. But I don't think Australia is the [be-all and end-all]. We have five years to go through, and we have very clear tools on how to act on things.”
