Tech Analysis | How F1 will survive without DRS in 2026

Just a few days before the Canadian Grand Prix, the FIA released the 2026 technical regulations, introducing a completely different and modern car, which still contains many references to the past. The changes will be massive and will include all the areas of the car, mainly to allow cars to follow closely and favour wheel to wheel battles.

The 2026 technical regulations will take cars into a series of key changes and innovations across the Power Unit and sustainability, aerodynamics, chassis and safety. Let’s try to deep dive into each of them.

Starting with what can be considered as the biggest change, from 2026 the Power Unit will deliver even more power than the current engines, but with some crucial differences: first of all, the power delivered from the ICE drops from the current 540 kW to 400 kW, while the power provided from the battery will increase to 350 kW from the current 120 kW. This way, about half the power delivered will be provided by the ICE elements and half by the battery.

The ICE will be fed with 100% sustainable fuel, meaning that every team will develop their fuel in collaboration with the respective developers (Shell, Petronas, Mobil...).

Moreover, the 2026 F1 cars will no longer have the MGU-H (the electrical generator designed to operate the compressor at low revs, which is converted into an alternator at high revs, recharging the battery), mainly to reduce weight.

Since the electrical energy produced by the batteries will be greater, it will also be necessary to increase the energy recovered under braking. Precisely, the energy recovered while braking will be doubled, resulting in a total value of 8.5 MJ of recuperable energy per lap.

Last but not least, a new engine mode, called the ‘Override’ will be introduced to aid overtaking. This mode will be activated directly by the driver himself and will provide an extra amount of energy (+0.5 MJ) for that one lap, which can be used in any way the drivers prefer. As underlined by the FIA’s single-seater technical director Jan Monchaux: “The extra amount of energy is defined and that will give that boost of energy to eventually give the following car a chance to overtake by the end of the straight.”

Moving to the chassis now, some important changes will concern the vehicle dimensions and weight, as well as the amount of downforce generated by the floor and bodywork of the car.

Firstly, regarding dimensions, these new “Nimble” cars will have a shorter wheelbase, dropping from the current 3600 mm to the new 3400 mm. Moreover, the width has been reduced from the current 2000 mm to 1900 mm, with the maximum floor width reduced by 150 mm as well.

These new cars will produce less downforce (with the floor being shorter), with a reduction estimated at around 30%, but will also have less drag, around 55% less, mainly to allow the drivers to get closer to each other and favour close fights on track.

Moreover, the 18-inch wheel size introduced in 2022 is being retained, though the width of the front tyres has been reduced by 25mm and the rears by 30mm but with minimal loss in grip.

As the FIA's head of aerodynamics Jason Somerville underlined, the goal for these Nimble cars will be to allow closer battles on track: "The main goal of the 2026 aero rules is really to focus on re-establishing following car performance. We want great racing; we want to ensure that the cars can race closely. The 2026 rules are an opportunity for us to reset the baseline level of the car so that they can race well together."

Moving now onto the aerodynamics, the 2026 cars will include some crucial updates under this aspect as well. The new regulation foresees that there will no longer be DRS, but there will be new active-aerodynamics that will involve both the front wing and the rear wing.

As a consequence, two different modes will be available for the drivers:

- X-mode, a low-drag configuration designed to maximize the straight line speed; - Z-mode, a high-downforce configuration designed to maximize cornering speed and traction out of the slow corners.

The drivers themself will be able to switch from the Z-mode to the X-mode by applying pressure on the brake pedal (the same way it works with DRS nowadays) and the low-drag configuration will be available around the lap depending on the grip and the conditions.

The most important change is that EVERY drivers will be allowed to use these different modes during the race, regardless of the gaps to each other.

As the FIA’s head of aerodynamics Jason Somerville explains: “With the 2026 car we'll be giving the drivers the ability to switch between the high downforce and low drag modes irrespective of any gaps."

"So, at pre-defined points around the lap, a driver will be able to switch to a low-drag mode to give them the performance down the straights where they're not grip limited. Then, as you approach the braking zone, you'll switch back to your high downforce mode. Each car would have the ability to switch between these two modes, entailing moving the rear wing and readjusting the front wing, and any following car would do the same."

"This is an active system that's controlled by the driver, although he will get a trigger, in the same way that he gets a trigger now, to indicate when he can activate the low drag mode. And the system will switch back to high downforce mode either under driver control or via brake pressure.”

To benefit from these active-aerodynamics solutions, both the front and the rear wing will show off a completely new design: as for the front wing, it will have a design much more similar to that of the 2005/2006 cars, with a very pronounced spoon in the central portion, it'll be 100 mm narrower and will feature a two-element active flap. As for the rear wing, it will have three elements and a shape much more similar to the versions adopted up to 2021, with two conspicuous endplates at the ends of the flaps to further reduce the drag produced.

In contrast to the current cars, front wheel arches will be removed, and part of the wheel bodywork will be mandated.

To better manage the wake of the front tyres, the 2026 cars will have in-washing wheel wake control boards that will sit on the front of the sidepods.

(Source: FIA)

The cars will feature a partially flat floor and a lower-powered diffuser, which will reduce the ground effect and the necessity for the cars to run super stiff and close to the ground, mainly avoiding porpoising and bouncing effects as seen for the current cars.

Finally, some changes have been made to improve safety. Revised front impact regulations introduce a two-stage structure to avoid incidents in recent years where the front impact structure (FIS) has broken-off close to the survival cell after an initial impact, leaving the car unprotected for a subsequent impact.

Side intrusion protection has been increased. The new specification gives improved intrusion protection around the cockpit and more than doubles the protection given by the side of the fuel cell.

Roll hoop loads have been increased from 16G to 20G in line with other single seater formulas and test loads increased from 141kN to 167kN. These important changes will be made after Zhou's huge crash in 2022 at Silverstone.

In conclusion, the 2026 new technical regulation will aim at improving racing on track, while making the car more difficult to drive for the drivers and with lower CO2 emissions. Only the track will tell us whether the goals have been accomplished, but we can only wait until 2026 to see how teams will tackle these changes and which innovative ideas they’ll come up with.