Lando Norris echoes Lewis Hamilton in demand to FIA bosses over F1 rules

Lando Norris has echoed Lewis Hamilton's calls for drivers to have 'a seat at the table' on decisions being made about the sport's future. 

The 2026 F1 season has been wrangling with ongoing criticism about the current engine regulations.

Pressure had been mounting on the FIA and F1 to make changes following backlash from a number of high profile drivers including championship winners Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.

The ongoing criticism had led the FIA make a number of tweaks to the rules at the Miami Grand Prix.
 

And now technical chiefs have gone one step further agreeing in principal to drop the 50/50 power split between the battery and combustion elements by 2027.

Speaking ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton pushed for more involvement and input from the grid on decisions about changes being made to the sport.

He said: "All the drivers, we do work together, we all meet but the fact is we don't have a seat at the table."

"We do engage with the FIA and F1; F1's more often a little bit more responsive. But being that we're not stakeholders - we don't have a seat at the table currently, which I think needs to change."
 

And reigning world champion Lando Norris echoed the Ferrari driver's call for drivers to have a greater say in the direction of the sport.

The McLaren driver told RacingNews365: "We just have to give our input honestly, and we want the fans to have a good time, and we want ourselves to have a good time, and we also want F1 to be what we've always grown up seeing, which is flat-out racing, which is not what we've had so far."

The McLaren driver went on to outline in more detail what changes he wants to see implemented to make for better racing in the future including reducing the weight of the cars.

"Having good racing is not necessarily having someone at 100% battery and having someone on zero; that's not how proper racing should be done." he said.
 

"It should be done by trying to allow cars to follow closer, have less weight, better tyres and be more resilient to following, not by implementing your batteries and wings to do all the stuff that we're doing now."

"Now, we have yo-yo racing, you can't debate it, but we want it to be more like go-karting in those early days where you can follow on the bumper, you're slipstreaming and have 22 cars in a big long line, and you're racing like that.

"That is what we want as drivers, and what we want as drivers will be better for the fans. It is a business at the end of the day, so you have to balance the business side, but we're making progress.

"The FIA is doing a good job in trying to improve things."
 

The Miami package was generally well-received as a step in the right direction, although Max Verstappen who has arguably been the most vocally critical of the rules, described it as just a “tickle” with more needed.

Agreed in principle for 2027, there will be a nominal increase of around 50kW from the internal combustion engine [ICE] through a fuel flow increase, while the same power output will be reduced from the energy recovery system [ERS]. This will end the controversial 50/50 power delivery of the current power units.

These remain proposals only, with more detailed discussions with technical groups required before the final package is signed off.