After concerns were raised about the performance of the 2026 car, efforts were made to implement potential changes to improve performance. These adjustments have now cut the performance gap in half, reducing the 2-second gap between the new car and the current one to just one second.

One of the highlights of the 2026 cars will be the balance between electric power and internal combustion, marking a significant change in Formula 1’s hybrid technology. The cars will also be lighter and more compact, featuring wheels smaller ones designed to enable close racing and exciting on-track action.

However, when the outline of the 2026 car was revealed ahead of the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, it indicated that the future F1 car would be slower than current ground effects cars by a significant two seconds, which is a lot in 2026. the racing world.

But now, the latest regulatory developments have made it possible to reduce the gap by one second. Speaking on the matter, FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis told the media:

“There has been an increase in the performance of the car by around 50 downforce.

“This took performance from minus 40% compared to current cars to around minus 15% in terms of downforce.

“In terms of performance, the lap times of the cars are very close to those of current cars. All this was done as promised in June.

Tombazis was then asked about the potential performance gap that might have existed if no further changes had been made to the regulations. He said:

“If we hadn’t made any changes after June, I guess it probably would have been even slower by about two seconds.”

Elaborating on the detailed changes planned for the 2026 car, which include increased downforce and other performance improvements, he added:

“The main changes to the aerodynamics were to slightly increase the box in which the front wing is located.

“We also added the front fender grill and styling that existed in previous cars.

“We added space for appliances in front of the front floor, such as the sideboard and the front edge of the sideboard. We increased the size of the diffuser, which starts a little further forward and is a little larger.

“We have redesigned some of the bodywork around the front wheels, and there is still some work going on that could hopefully lead to some final adjustments at the next World Council on the rear bodywork, and how it interacts with the diffuser in this area.”

The latest version of the 2026 regulations introduces several key changes, particularly to the design of the front wing. These include expanding the allowable box area for the front wing elements and increasing the thickness of the end plates. Even though the updates may not seem significant, they offer significant potential to increase downforce in the next generation of cars. This is largely due to the interconnected nature of the changes, which affect the car’s aerodynamics from front to rear, improving overall performance.