Will F1 2026’s rule changes work? This is what the drivers think

Formula 1 drivers have given their first thoughts on the tweaks to the 2026 rules ahead of this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.

During the enforced five-week break in April following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix due to the Iran War, F1’s governing body announced a raft of changes to the much-maligned power unit regulations.

It is hoped the tweaks, that will be tested for the first time in Miami, will reduce the amount of energy management required during qualifying laps and allow drivers to push more “flat out”.

Adjustments have also been made to combat safety concerns over drastic speed differences between cars during races, and issues that have cropped up during the start procedure, which has led to several near-misses across the opening three rounds.

“How far they go to helping the problems, you're never going to fix the problems without changing the hardware of the power units, but I think it's a step in the right direction,” McLaren’s Oscar Piastri said during Thursday’s FIA drivers’ press conference.

The Australian later added: "In the simulator running I did, some things are a bit better, some things are really not any different, so we'll have to wait and see just how it turns out on track.

“But from a safety point of view, I think the changes with the boost button are sensible in the right direction. You can't eliminate the instances of people having 350 kilowatts more than another car at all times, but hopefully it reduces the amount of times that happens.”

Surprise early championship leader Kimi Antonelli described the rule changes as a “good first step in the right direction”.

Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar has doubts that Miami will be the best track to determine whether the changes are a success or not.

“I don't think it's the most representative track. I don’t think it's a challenging track for the power units we have,” he explained.

“I think it's going to look good. But on some other tracks, it's definitely going to be harder. But let's see tomorrow how it feels inside the car and we’ll know more.”

Carlos Sainz doubts F1 has come up with a “magic bullet” that will solve every problem.

“I don't believe we will come up with a magic bullet here that will suddenly change everything, but I think all the changes are sensible and hopefully going to make things a bit more enjoyable from our part,” the Williams driver said.

“Just happy to see we're collaborating, working together to make the sport better and more enjoyable and whether it will make a big difference or not, we will obviously have the next few races to analyse, adapt and see if we need to do further changes.

Pierre Gasly was among the drivers who had largely positive reactions.

“It's going in the right direction for the stuff that we are asking,” the Alpine driver commented. “That's the most important. I don't think it's a game changer. But it's going in the right direction and it's good to give it a try and then actually see what it brings and see if there is any necessity to do further steps. But I think it should be good.

“It's the best communications we've had for a while. I think it's been very constructive. I think us as drivers have appreciated the fact that we've been involved because we are the ones behind the wheels. We are the ones feeling what's going on in all sorts of situations. So the feedback we can give is way more precise than any other one in the organisation. So I think they've definitely validated it.

“As much as we would like to make the rules, there are also big entities behind the sport and manufacturers that are also pushing for what they want to have and what they need to be in the sport. We've got to please everybody. But at the end of the day, I think safety has definitely got to come first when it comes to what we do. I think everybody is pretty happy with the change we've made.”

Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas shed light on how drivers reacted to the tweaks on their group WhatsApp chat.

“All drivers were in this group chat on WhatsApp. So we've been communicating there quite a lot. Especially after Japan, we did some votes and stuff like that,” the Finn said.

“But everything is aligned. I think everyone agrees it's a step in the right direction. But now we just need to see these things in action. I think all the drivers are aligned. It's sometimes only a couple of drivers that speak to FIA, but normally they speak on behalf of all of us at GPDA.”

Ollie Bearman, who suffered a terrifying crash in Japan as a direct result of excessive closing speed differences during the race, gave his verdict after trying some of the changes on the simulator.

“We tried it on the sim. There have been a few things that have been really nice,” the Haas driver said. “For example, the qualifying lap start, now it's automatic, whereas [in the] last few races we were having to manage the throttle manually. It's like 50%, so you're having to look down at your dash to see exactly how much throttle you're using when starting a lap, which is a bit dangerous. Now it's automated, which simplifies things for us.

“A few other things, really based on quali, that should simplify life a bit for us, which is really what we wanted and asked for, because we want to be able to go out there and drive on instinct, rather than thinking about all of these things.

“A few of the other things, obviously I've tried them in the simulator, but it's tough to really draw conclusions, because it's just you on the sim. When you're with other cars, obviously things change a bit. Let's see. I think the most important thing is that they've been very receptive to our feedback, and I hope it continues that way.”

However, Liam Lawson cautioned: “It's hard to know until we drive on track, so right now obviously we've done simulations and driven it in a simulator, but I think it's hopefully step in the right direction. But honestly until we drive on track I don't really know.”

Lance Stroll did not hold back in his particularly scathing view, but Aston Martin team-mate Fernando Alonso was more diplomatic.

“Let's wait and see,” the two-time world champion said. “I don't think it will change completely what we saw in the first three races, to be honest. This power unit and this regulation will always reward going slower in the corners, because you have more energy.

“ The small tweaks can improve a little bit the clipping, which, again, I'm not sure if we go back to Suzuka, where I spoke with the team and we race with the current rules, we will have more clipping than what we had in Suzuka.

“It's a little bit contradictory what I read in the last few weeks and what I heard today, so that's why I need to see on track how it feels.”