RED BULL RING, AUSTRIA - JUNE 30: Lance Stroll, Racing Point RP19, leads Carlos Sainz Jr., McLaren MCL34, Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso STR14, and Alexander Albon, Toro Rosso STR14, at the start during the Austrian GP at Red Bull Ring on June 30, 2019 in Red Bull Ring, Austria. (Photo by Jerry Andre / LAT Images)
The latest generation F1 cars are the biggest ever in terms of size and comparatively heavier than previous models – the organization wants to make the cars smaller and lighter in 2026
F1 is set for a number of changes within the next few years and we can expect a complete revamp of the cars that are being used in the sport. F1 is becoming popular with each passing season and the stakeholders are continuously looking for ideas to make the sport more enjoyable and exciting. There are several new plans that F1 authorities have put in place and they are going to be implemented in the near future.
F1’s Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Pat Symonds has made it clear in a recent interview that they are planning a large-scale modification of the cars. “One of the things we want to do is make the cars a little smaller because they’ve grown massively over the last few years”, said Symonds. He further added: “We’d like the weight to come down but we’re way away from that yet. However, we absolutely must make sure it doesn’t grow.” The current generation F1 cars are a maximum of 5.63m in length, 2m wide, 95cm tall and weigh 800kg without the driver.
It is important to note that F1 authorities already have a roadmap to make the sport more sustainable and eco-friendly. F1 is developing a sustainable fuel, which is set to be introduced to cars in 2026 when a new set of Power Unit regulations come into play. Although F1 fuel accounts for just 1 per cent of the sport’s emissions, it believes that a sustainable fuel can have a major impact on worldwide, everyday transport.
F1 has made their ambitions clear about expanding the sport and adding more teams to the grid. Earlier this year, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem suggested that there could be more F1 teams in the near future. Ben Sulayem asked the governing body to check for potential teams who could join F1 in the near future.
F1 has been a 10-team championship since 2016 and Ben Sulayem indicated that he intends to expand the grid in the upcoming years. The green signal from the President himself means that the concerned authorities have implemented the process of checking out applications from interested parties.
After F1 made it clear that they were looking for new teams, Cadillac were the first team to express their interest to join F1 in partnership with Michael Andretti. Andretti wasted no time to announce his team’s partnership with General Motors through Cadillac, as the American Andretti Autosport team looks for an entry into Formula 1.
However, the inclusion of a team is a time-consuming and complicated process. A new entrant would have to be approved by the FIA and also reach an agreement with F1 itself regarding commercial rights which is pretty tricky. It remains to be seen how soon this plan gets materialised.
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