What changes have been made to the 2026 F1 regulations ahead of Miami?

Written by Maham Mir, Edited by Marit Everett

Four areas in the 2026 F1 regulations have undergone revisions ahead of the Miami Grand Prix. What are these refinements and how will they affect on-track action?

The overhaul in regulations for the 2026 season has had mixed opinions so far by fans and drivers alike | Credit: Formula One

On Monday 20th April 2026, a meeting between Formula One team bosses, the FIA, the CEOs of Power Unit Manufacturers and the Formula One Management (FOM) came together to agree upon refinements to the 2026 F1 regulations. Taking advantage of this extended break between races, they came together to discuss the biggest overhaul in regulations in F1 history and what can be done to address some of the issues raised by drivers and fans alike. 

The new refinements are focused on four different areas which have been brought up as concerns over the first three races of the season in Australia, China and Japan. The areas include, car performance in qualifying, adjustments to the start procedures, safety concerns during races and safety conditions during wet weather conditions. 

Everything agreed upon will be implemented from the Miami Grand Prix onwards following an e-vote. However, it is important to say that adjusted race start procedures will be tried in Miami but will remain a point of discussion between the relevant channels. Additionally, they will continue to be adapted as the season continues and pending further feedback from drivers and their teams. 

These refinements will act as an indicator of the future direction of these brand new regulations | Credit: Formula One

Qualifying

If F1 is considered the pinnacle of motorsports then qualifying can undoubtedly be seen as the opportunity to see these cars at the top of their game. However, in 2026, there’s been growing dissatisfaction at the potential and performance of the cars during qualifying as drivers are not able to maintain the speeds they were previously used to due to the management of their batteries. 

With the greater reliance on the battery, given that the new engines are utilising a 50/50 split, the drivers were previously forced to contend with sudden drops in speed as they waited for their batteries to recharge. In light of this dissatisfaction, there have been adjustments to energy management and most crucially, there has been a “reduction in maximum permitted recharge from 8MJ to 7MJ”.

All in all, these new refinements in the view of F1 are “aimed at reducing excessive harvesting and encouraging more consistent flat-out driving”. The change in qualifying limitations will also be carried over into race conditions with the hopes that the ‘artificial’ overtaking that some fans have accused the sport of promoting with these new regulations will be limited. 

Charles Leclerc has been one of the more vocal drivers about his dissatisfaction with the sudden change in qualifying performance in 2026 | Credit: Formula One

Race conditions

Despite the increased number of overtakes, drivers have been vocal about the fact that safety in these new regulations should be given a greater level of consideration. After Ollie Bearman’s 50G crash in Suzuka, the potential risks of these regulations were exposed for all to see and Bearman was considered incredibly lucky to walk away with no lasting injuries. 

However, the comments of Carlos Sainz, a co-president of the GPDA, among other drivers has reiterated that maintaining the balance between exciting racing and driver safety will define the next few rounds of the championship and this regulatory era as a whole. 

Therefore, a new cap has been introduced with the Boost button (150kW) in order to avoid “sudden performance differentials” like we saw in Suzuka. Additionally, energy deployment from the engine, after being monitored over the first three rounds, has been agreed to be maintained at 350kW “in key acceleration zones” but otherwise will be limited to 250kW. 

As stated by the FIA, the refinements when it comes to race conditions and improving driver safety have been “designed to reduce excessive closing speeds while maintaining overtaking opportunities and overall performance characteristics.” In essence, the FIA have taken the stance that the integrity of these new regulations and the promises of better overtaking should not be hampered with these refinements but it will remain to be seen if the promises of overtaking can co-exist with increased driver safety. 

Bearman’s crash was the first major incident of these new regulations but these adjustments will hopefully limit the chances of another incident occurring | Credit: Formula One

Race starts

One of the more obvious changes of this era has been the shift in start procedures where drivers are now given a five second countdown ahead of the lights going out to prepare their turbo-charger for the start. However, even with the five second countdown to avoid major incidents on the opening lap, F1 have taken further steps to ensure that slow moving cars do not become a recurring hazard. 

To minimise the safety risk, a new system to identify cars with low acceleration has been introduced. In the case where a slow car has been identified by the system, “an automatic MGU-K deployment will be triggered” in order to boost the slower car into a position where it can start the race properly. 

Although the FIA have already addressed any potential sporting advantage that could be gained by stating that the revised system only administers “a minimum level of acceleration”, certain teams like Ferrari may be questioning this. The Maranello based team have been more successful at optimising their engine for the new race start procedures and this new revised system may mean their advantage over their competitors is slowly being chipped away. 

Along with these internal adjustments to safety concerns at race starts, a new procedure with car lights will also be introduced. Any cars utilising the deployment to reach minimum acceleration will activate flashing lights to alert nearby cars and drivers. 

Mercedes power units, like the one used by McLaren, have not been optimised for the new start procedures unlike the power unit designed by Ferrari | Credit: Formula One

Wet weather conditions

Although F1 hasn’t seen any wet weather running in the first three races of the season yet, the unpredictability of weather is always something that promises to bring excitement to any circuit. With that in mind, considering safety and visibility has defined these refinements.

For the sake of grip and tyre performance, teams will be obligated to use tyre blankets to ensure that their intermediate tyres reach a higher temperature before releasing their cars. Whilst in the past it was common to see cars in the wall due to cold tyres, especially in wet conditions, these changes are designed to avoid this situation altogether. 

Drawing parallels to the previous generation of cars with the Drag Reduction System (DRS), the new regulations deem that the maximum levels of the Energy Recovery System (ERS) will be reduced to avoid any high impact crashes. 

Like with the revised start procedures, cars will follow a different but simpler procedure with their lights in order to ensure that other drivers can see their competitors even in bad visibility. 

Racing in wet conditions almost always promises excitement | Credit: Formula One

Following the announcement with these new refinements, the FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem released a statement highlighting how “the drivers have been at the heart of these discussions” to improve the regulations. F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali also stated that the refinements have come from “discussions that have been in place for many months, with the FIA, with the teams, now even more with the drivers” and that they are “going in the right direction”.

Given how vocal certain drivers including reigning world champion Lando Norris and four-time world champion Max Verstappen have been about their dislike of the regulations so far, it is no surprise that the FIA president is hoping to bring everyone on-board with these new changes.  

Domenicali views the discussion about the 2026 regulations overhaul as an indication of the sport’s ever-growing popularity | Credit: Formula One

However, even with the above refinements agreed upon and all but set for implementation, it raises questions about whether they actually address some of the issues that have presented themselves in terms of car performance and more importantly, driver safety. Whilst the new measures for energy harvesting and deployment in qualifying and during races will allow cars to regain their ability to push flat-out, it will have to be seen whether this indeed allows for safer racing. 

F1 will next take to the track for the Miami Grand Prix where these refinements will be seen in action for the first time. Only time will tell if these changes will take these revolutionary regulations in the right direction or if more will need to be done to bring this new era in line with F1’s illustrious history.