The sweeping overhaul of Formula 1’s technical rules for 2026 has triggered a wave of apprehension and criticism across both the paddock and among fans.

As the sport prepares to embrace lighter, more electrified cars and active aerodynamics, many drivers, teams, and fans are voicing deep concerns about the direction F1 is taking.

Prominent figures have questioned whether these changes truly serve the spirit of the series, and with teams warning of technical and sporting pitfalls, the 2026 regulations have ignited one of the most contentious debates in recent F1 history.

Here we look at and analyse the main concerns created by the 2026 rules.

Car weight

Formula 1 cars will get lighter for the first time in many years in 2026, going from a minimum weight of 800kg to 768kg in an attempt to make them more agile and raceable following complaints in recent years that the current generation of cars is too big and heavy.

Teams, however, believe it will be extremely difficult to hit the minimum weight requirement, especially given heavier batteries and new safety requirements.

Next year’s cars will rely a lot more on electrification, with power from the MGU-K (the electric motor) rising from 120kW to 350kW – almost a 300% increase.

This means the battery must be capable of delivering much more energy in a short period, requiring larger and more robust cells, which adds weight.

The minimum weight for the entire power unit – the internal combustion engine plus the hybrid system – is rising from 151kg to 185kg.

Cars are losing the MGU-H next year, but that only weighed about 4kg.

Some teams are concerned that they will not be able to get to the minimum weight without spending tons of money and compromising on other areas that might make the less competitive.

“A number was plucked out of the air for car weight,” former Red Bull boss Christian Horner said during the Miami GP. “We’ve got engines that are significantly heavier and a car weight that has become lower. So it will be an enormous challenge for every team to achieve it.

“Saving weight costs a colossal amount of money. But it is what it is. It’s the same for everybody. There will be choices teams make to hit the weight, because weight is free laptime. Every 10 kilos is about 0.35 seconds. It will be very challenging for all teams to get down to minimum weight.”

At the end of the day, however, it will be up to each team to decide which areas to compromise on to find the best possible balance between weight-saving and performance.

“It is challenging,” admitted Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. “The reason we’re doing it is to make the cars more nimble. Is that something that was important? I think it was. We’ve got to start somewhere.

“That initial step is difficult, but it’s the same for everyone.”

Running out of power

Losing the MGU-H, which helped with the recovery of energy, will increase the reliance on the electric motor (MGU-K) next year, sparking fears that cars might run out of battery power on certain circuits.

Simulations initially showed that cars running a 50/50 power split between the combustion engine and electric motor could be depleting their battery charge down long straights, causing a significant drop in power and potentially making F1 cars slower than F2.

Concerns that drivers may need to lift off or even downshift to conserve energy on circuits like Monza haven’t gone away despite meetings to discuss the issue.

As is often the case in F1, some manufacturers are in favour of making changes to the rules while others like Mercedes want to wait to see how it all works out before any tweaks are made.

Discussions about altering the split to rely more on the internal combustion engine have led nowhere so far, although the FIA has said that the latest meeting in April “discussed in principle refinements to the energy management strategy for 2026”.

“Where we’re coming from is we don’t know how it’s going to pan out next year,” said Wolff last month. “Are we going to see energy harvesting disasters in Baku or Monza? I don’t know. We hope not.”

Big spread in performance

Connected to the concerns mentioned above is the fear that one engine manufacturer could end up having a huge advantage over the rest.

There will be several new factors influencing engine performance next year – from the design of the MGU-K to the biofuel chosen – and one manufacturer could have put all the right ingredients together and end up several steps ahead of the rest.

Having less experienced manufacturers like Red Bull Powertrains or Audi also adds to the concerns that the gap between teams could be much bigger next season.

While it is too late to change the fundamental rules, there is still time to make tweaks to the deployment/split of power in order to avoid a big disparity in performance.

However, any change would require four out of the five manufacturers to vote in favour and, as usual, the process of finalising any rules can be highly political.

The 50/50 energy split has always been the main driver behind all the other changes made to the cars and engines for 2026, so Formula 1 backpedalling on its plans for bigger electrification could be seen as a failure of the new regulations even before the cars hit the track.

Divided views

Even before the new F1 cars and engines have taken to the track for the first time, there’s already been talk about a push to change the engine formula and return to simpler, V10 power units. That’s not a good sign for the 2026 rules, and it’s an indication of the divide between manufacturers about what they want the future of F1 to be.

The current engines are a marvel of engineering, but that’s something that either F1 has failed to highlight, or something that the average fan doesn’t really appreciate or care about.

The engines also lack noise and are not as awe-inspiring as the high-revving V10s or V12 of the past. Noise and high revs are two factors that don’t need to be advertised or explained for fans to appreciate it.

Those things are not changing with the 2026 rules, and while the engines will align with what some manufacturers want, no fan or driver gets too excited by the prospect of a power unit whose main quality is that it’s extremely efficient and pushes battery technology to the edge. The engines will still be very complex and very expensive.

A return to V10s has been ruled out for now, but there’s already been discussion about changing the formula even before the original 2030 commitment.

Manufacturers like Mercedes, Honda and Audi have invested heavily in hybrid technology and see electrification as essential for F1’s relevance and sustainability. Others like Ferrari and Red Bull would like to fast-track a return to simple, cheaper and more spectacular V10s.

It’s a debate that is set to continue regardless of how successful the new engine formula turns out to be.

Too complex

Electrification, MGU-K, energy splits, manual override, X-mode, Z-mode, active aero… The 2026 rules will add a lot of technical jargon and acronyms to the list of things an average F1 fan needs to learn to understand what’s going on in the races.

The rules for the active aero system that features X-mode and Z-mode allow a driver to be switching between one and the other at will at predetermined points on the circuit, regardless of their position relative to their rivals.

That new system alone will need simplified yet very visual alerts or graphics to allow people following the race to understand what is actually going on on track.

“Manual override” should be simple enough to understand, as it’s basically a videogame-style boost button that can be used like the DRS, although F1 would do well to find a simpler name that makes it clear what exactly its purpose is. “Manual override” is not doing the job and might lead to more confusion than necessary.

The 2026 regulations are quite transformative for F1 and aim at making the series more attractive to manufacturers.

However, the complexity and novelty of the changes are likely to confuse some fans, and the FIA and F1 will need to invest in clear, accessible communication and education to ensure fans remain engaged and can appreciate the new cars.