According to the latest simulations from FIA engineers, the cars debuting in 2026 will have performance similar to those of 2022.
Formula 1 is about to return with the presentation of the cars for the 2025 season. In just over a month, in fact, there will be a global event in London where the ten participating teams will reveal their liveries simultaneously, something never seen before in the history of the most important motorsport on the planet.
2025, as many have anticipated, will be an extremely exciting year with four teams battling for the victory, while also being a transition year towards the 2026 revolution. The significant regulatory change will impact the upcoming season to such an extent that Ferrari itself, as confirmed by Vasseur, will begin working relentlessly on the 2026 car right from the start.
Doubts regarding the performance of the new cars have been dispelled through various modifications to the first draft of the regulations by the FIA. Thanks to the new upgrades introduced over the past months, it will be possible to achieve performance very similar to that of 2022, both in terms of lap time and race pace. Furthermore, it will be even easier to follow the car ahead.
Thanks to the new modifications, teams have managed to recover at least 50 points of downforce, achieving simulator times very similar to those set by the first ground-effect cars. In this regard, Mario Isola also commented: “Currently, the high downforce configuration is showing values about 15% lower than the current ones. How reliable this data is will need to be verified.”
Aerodynamic downforce won’t be the only factor, as the reduced weight of the cars (about 30 kg less compared to the current ones) will allow the cars to gain mechanical grip, especially in the slower sections of circuits. This would also benefit lap times, as confirmed by Isola: “If the teams really start 2026 with 15% less downforce compared to today, meaning around the levels of 2022, they would then recover that. With such a significant regulatory change, the development curve at the beginning is very steep.”
Regarding overtaking, as previously mentioned in earlier articles, there will be additional improvements to help drivers follow each other without too much difficulty. These are the words of Tim Goss, Chief Technical Officer of Racing Bulls, on this aspect: “In terms of slipstream clarity and ease of following, the car will be good. We will likely be in a better situation than the current one, somewhat returning to how things were at the beginning of this technical era in 2022.”
Photo: FIA