Pat Symonds, Formula 1’s chief technical officer, has revealed new details about the new generation of F1 cars that will be driven from 2026.
2026 will be a crucial year for Formula 1 because new technical regulations will come into effect. The new F1 regulations will ensure that a new generation of F1 cars will be driven that will have completely new F1 engines. The new F1 engines are currently being worked on extensively.
According to Pat Symonds, these new engines will have more horsepower and some different characteristics than the current F1 engines. There will be much more electrically generated energy and that led to concerns about the power that will be achieved, but the ‘chief technical officer’ is clearly not concerned about that.
“We currently have cars with electric power that have around 900 hp,” Symonds told the official F1 website. “With the 2026 car we will have more than 1,000 hp, we want more power to come from the electric motor.”
“Currently there is no ‘turbo lag’ on the cars because we have an electric motor on the turbo. We didn’t used to have ‘turbo lag’.”
In addition to the new generation of engines, the F1 cars will also undergo thorough changes. According to Symonds, the cars must lose down pressure and the driver must once again become a more important part.
“We want to reduce the amount of downforce on the cars,” said Symonds. “Because they undergo such incredible downward pressure, the F1 cars are also so heavy, they slide a little more.”
“We will put more emphasis on the driver. This is important. After all, it is the riders who are the heroes, they are the super people we want to promote. I think it is going in the right direction.”