Reliability Over Raw Performance For The 2026 F1 Regs!

[@donaldtracey4541]

Wow ! Blank canvas in 2026 . I'm even more excited 😆. Thanks for the insight Sb44 . Raspect.

[@paulsterling2610]

Have to agree with you 💯 on the points you made about how active aero makes the cars more vulnerable to interference from visor tear offs to debris tire wear marbles and crashes plus how driver errors will affect their teams cost cap budgets in terms of replacing these even more expensive aero bits. So drivers like the childish 1 gr63 stroll ocon and hulk who always seem to be getting into other cars or crashing will ruin their chances of winning races scoring points plus their team budget if they don't change their behavior. Teams that have driver pairings where both drivers are known to keep their cars clean both on wheel to wheel action and in open track will have a significant advantage. A team with just one driver that loves to play bumper cars with teammates other drivers and the barriers may not last the season. Perhaps doing a latifi especially if they are not fast. This could mean multiple driver changes per season from 2026 onwards. Kind off perpetual silly season.

[@Sbinnala44]

Agreed. As a result, I can already envision in 2026+ some of the team principals trying to push for the budget cap to be increased or possibly to even be removed entirely. In regards to the active aero, I hope that drivers won't see it as a tactical way to finish ahead of/outscore their opponents by trying to intentionally damage the other car's front wing. In these active aero regs, even slight damage to an end plate will have significant aero consequences, and I wouldn't be surprised if some drivers essentially crash on purpose into others in the hope that they'll be firced to make a pitsop.

[@paulsterling2610]

@@Sbinnala44 yes cost cap negotiations are certainly happening behind the scenes as all the new teams both ameri and euro are going to say they can't do it with cost cap at current level and the rest of the paddock are going to say if they can break bank so should we. Certainly drivers team principals plus engineers of nefarious mind will be damaging competitors active aero bits. Drivers market may open up for the driver who can hurt another drivers car and get away with it the most. A certain crashing dutchman comes to mind.

[@henryjoseph3093]

Anything that depends more on the driver's skills,I'm absolutely for it

[@FernasRPG]

True. 2026 should have more issues of reliability. This should give Aston Martin/Honda an advantage. Ferrari still struggles with reliability, despite being the third year in the current reg and so does Mercedes. Red Bull is the most reliable of them all, but I guess is more due to Honda.

[@jaynejones6630]

Once again Merc will develop the better engine, but still have a slower car due to airo and balance issues

[@bniceuk8207]

Mercedes have been the leaders in front wing innovation for 10 years. This is their wheelhouse, as is active aero and floor edge design. Mclaren also seems to be a force in front wing dev, but they are much more adept at engine mapping to perfect deployment.

[@jaynejones6630]

@bniceuk8207 they haven't had a "back end" for the past 3 years, they wouldn't listen to Lewis when he told them about it hence no balance, they get the front right, but no rear, also , suspension is a bit iffy 😕

[@bniceuk8207]

@@jaynejones6630 yep. A lot of lewis fans bet that Mercedes will have a dominant car when lewis leaves. Not due to luck, but because a lot of their poor development was by design 😕 to engineer his exit. We'll soon see if they were right or if Mercedes were simply clueless

[@jaynejones6630]

@bniceuk8207 I think a bit of both tbh, but I'm sorry to say that I don't think George is either the key or the answer, just my opinion

[@strawman3059]

I'm not sure the cost cap is even real, I mean how on earth do they even police such a thing 🤔

[@paulsterling2610]

It could be that a new engine manufacturer takes it as in audi. when first heard new power unit regs said merc and ferrari had the advantage, but didn't remember part of the new regs for 2026 has sustainable/bio fuels as part of it. That's where the vag of which audi is a part has the advantage. Since porsche has been researching sustainable bio fuels for about 6 years. Not that the other fuel suppliers to other teams aren't, but porsches research is twinned with engine development. Now that porsche won't be on the grid in 2026, audi can access all that advanced research. So if audi builds a reasonable car aero wise their engine advantage could be the same as merc had back in 2014

[@Sbinnala44]

I initially thought that too when Audi first announced that they would be entering the sport, but Mattia Binotto has recently come out and rather said the opposite, and that he believes his team will have an underperdoming engine for the first season. Maybe it's just mind games, but I'm not sure. As for Cadillac, they'll be using Ferrari engines so they can't really benefit. But talking about Porsche, I think that theyll be the next team to enter F1. They tried to do that partnership/takeover that didn't come to fruition and instead Red Bull went with Ford. But I wouldn't be surprised if Porsche buy out Alpine in the coming years.

[@paulsterling2610]

@@Sbinnala44 trust me the mattia binotto words definitely reindeer games level mind games under promising to over deliver. Only way audi would be weak is on the mguk side of power unit and considering they have more than a year to work on that the won't be hondas second stint at mclaren level weak. The new american cadillac could be strong if their aero is decent. If porsche was smart they would've offered red bull engine partnership along with good money for total control of what was torro rosso then alfa tauri no rb cash app. then they would have access to a bit of red bull aero chassis design engine gearbox integration data which is class leading. Plus the added benefit of having two teams worth of data for power unit development

[@paulsterling2610]

@Sbinnala44 another thing that just came to mind is that f1/fia following indycar with push to pass in 2026. Now all push to pass really is just the driver accessing another power unit mode for a few seconds. Remember back in The early days of the v6 turbo hybrid era which team/ power unit constructors established themselves as the power unit mode gurus. I strongly believe that this team has been working on the 2026 power unit since 2021. Remember how strong the honda power unit in the red bull seemed in 2021 and 2022. With many f1 pundits claiming the honda delivering more power at the end of the straights than the merc. Since 2026 power unit regs say no mguh allowed IMHO I believe merc has been actively researching how powerful their power unit would be if they relied less on the mguh. So from 2021 until now merc has been relying less and less each year on mguh to generate peak power unit hp. Plus the have also expanded research on the power unit modes they already mastered in 2026.