Fernando Alonso says the current generation of Formula 1 cars has failed to provide the closer racing and greater on-track action they were meant to unlock, but the two-time champion fears he will yearn for their speed next year.
“I will not miss this generation of cars, I think,” Alonso said ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. “But I think next year, probably, we will go slower, and we will miss them when we drive the next cars because we always want to be as fast as possible.
“I think these cars are definitely too heavy. They are too big. And the ground effect and the ride heights — we are racing in a way that is not really fun to drive and probably not even to follow cars.
“The expectations of this regulation, that it was to follow closely and to have better action on track, was not really a success.
“I don’t think we will miss too much of this.”
When Formula 1 introduced its sweeping rule reset for 2022, the aim was clear: reduce the aerodynamic turbulence of leading cars, simplify wings, and rely on ground-effect floors to let drivers follow closer.
Overtaking with the current cars has become rarer
For a brief period, that seemed to work, as the opening half of 2022 saw tighter gaps and more side-by-side moments.
But the effect faded quickly. Teams recovered downforce, reintroduced outwash, and refined the floors to create powerful but highly sensitive aerodynamic cars.
The number of overtakes reduced again, and the DRS became almost the only resource drivers could use to make passes.
Weight also became an endemic problem, as safety structures, hybrid components, and the constraints of the regulations pushed the minimum weight to unprecedented levels.
The scale and bulk of the chassis, widened in 2017 and never reined back, have compounded the issue.
Mercedes‘ George Russell echoed Alonso’s view, adding that the current era has been fundamentally compromised by its physical characteristics.
“I think they haven’t been the most pleasant generation of cars to drive,” Russell said. “Super stiff, really low to the ground, which has caused a lot of challenges.
“And of course, since 2017, the cars have been huge, and I think that has created some other challenges. So I think we’re all looking forward to a change and a fresh start – that’s always exciting.”
Russell agrees with Alonso’s views
Grand Prix Photo
Russell believes the 2026 direction is broadly correct, but not ambitious enough.
“I think it’s going in the right direction – making the cars smaller, lighter. Maybe it hasn’t gone quite far enough. But as always, you’ll miss… you always remember the good stuff from something in the past. You never really remember the bad stuff.”
He added that the pace of the current cars will be missed, even if the era itself is not.
“I’m sure we’re going to miss that high-speed performance and we’ll probably forget about the negatives – but that’s just how life goes.”
Too heavy, too big: How F1 cars got to this point
Alonso and Russell have both focused on what the cars feel like from the cockpit: stiff, unforgiving, and awkward over kerbs due to the extreme ride heights and floor sensitivity required for performance.
Long wheelbases and the sheer width of the cars make low-speed sequences cumbersome and wheel-to-wheel racing more difficult.
The result is a generation of cars that are astonishingly fast, especially through high-speed corners, but rarely enjoyable to drive and often leading to a lack of wheel-to-wheel racing.
The current cars are the heaviest in F1 history
Grand Prix Photo
The goals of the 2022 regulations have not materialised in sustained on-track action.
After the brief early upswing, aerodynamic turbulence has crept back, and cars remain difficult to follow through medium- and high-speed corners.
Combined with the ground-effect platforms’ sensitivity, racing has become heavily dependent on DRS and undercut cycles.
Street circuits, in particular, have suffered. Heavy, oversized machinery struggles through tight sequences, and drivers frequently report overheating tyres and brakes when following.
2026 worries
Both Alonso and Russell also warned that the 2026 rules, while welcome, come with their own set of concerns.
The FIA intends to shrink the cars, cut minimum weight, simplify aero surfaces and introduce active aerodynamics, but teams remain wary about the compromise between chassis drag and the aggressive electrical deployment targets set for the new power units.
Early projections suggest next year’s cars will be slower in corners, potentially significantly so, raising questions about whether F1 may simply enter another transitional period before the rules stabilise.
Russell’s caution, that F1 “maybe hasn’t gone quite far enough” with reductions, mirrors a sentiment shared by teams.
The overhaul of F1 regulations for 2026 has sparked widespread fears and criticism among drivers, teams, and fans, who worry about the complexity, cost, and performance of the new cars
By
Pablo Elizalde
With over two decades in the cockpit, Alonso is uniquely equipped to judge how the modern era compares to those before it. From the lightweight V10 generation to the high-downforce V8s and now the heaviest cars in championship history, he has driven nearly every direction Formula 1 has pursued.
Russell, though younger, has lived through the expansion of the cars since 2017, and is among those who have never raced a truly lightweight Formula 1 car.
As the field prepares for another rule reset, Alonso and Russell’s comments underline a widely held view: this has been an era defined by extreme performance but limited spectacle.
The 2022 regulations set out to fix the aerodynamic problems that had plagued the previous decade. Instead, they delivered a short-lived improvement that quickly faded. What remains is a generation of cars that drivers won’t miss, but may occasionally look back on with selective nostalgia.
Whether 2026 can deliver a genuinely fresh start is now the central question.
