Formula 1 has chosen to remove the extra point for fastest lap from the end of this season, following a meeting of the FIA ​​World Motor Sport Council at which significant changes to the regulations technical 2026 affecting aerodynamics have been approved.

The Council met on Thursday at the FIA ​​headquarters in Paris, confirming regulatory changes in a number of different racing categories. From an F1 perspective, a short-term change came with the removal of the extra point for the fastest lap holder – provided they finish in the top 10 – which had been in force since 2019.

“Minor changes to the 2024 and 2025 sporting and technical regulations have been approved by the World Council, including removing the point awarded for fastest lap and increasing the requirement to field a young driver in practice free from once per season to twice. per season,” the FIA ​​said.

Young driver time actually relates to each car rather than each team, meaning each team will field a rookie four times in a season rather than the current two.

Longer-term changes were made to the 2026 regulations which received significant feedback after their initial release in June. The aerodynamic rules will only be published in full for the start of work from January 2025 and have been revised following discussions with the teams.

“The 2026 Technical Regulations (Section C), initially approved in June 2024, have been the subject of significant improvements to the aerodynamic regulations, which have been the subject of strong collaboration between the FIA, the FOM and the teams Formula 1,” the FIA ​​said. . “This will improve the performance of the cars, whilst retaining the management of slipstream characteristics to promote close and exciting racing.

“The 2026 Sporting Regulations (Section B) have undergone a significant update in order to simplify and modernize their structure. They have introduced measures to regulate the energy management of powertrains as well as the management of adjustable aerodynamics, which will involve the deployment of “straight line mode” (low drag) and “corner mode” (high downforce ). . Additionally, there will be three pre-season tests of three days each for the 2026 season to account for the new power units that will be adopted.

Alongside the evolution of the cost capping rules, the overall regulations will be restructured in terms of presentation for greater clarity and consistency.