Autosport revealed over the Austrian Grand Prix weekend that concerns have emerged about the danger of F1 making a mis-step with the rules if it does not perfectly marry the chassis regulations to planned all-new engines.
With there being an equal 50/50 split between internal combustion engine power and electrical power, concerns have emerged about drivers running out of battery power halfway around laps – or needing to operate the cars in weird ways like changing down gears on the straights.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner warned at the Austrian GP that there was a very real risk of F1 unleashing cars that did not produce a good spectacle.
“Perhaps where we need to pay urgent attention before it's too late, is to look at the ratio between combustion power and electrical power to ensure that we're not creating a technical Frankenstein which will require the chassis to compensate to such a degree with movable aero and to reduce the drag to such a level that the racing will be affected,” he said.
World champion Verstappen says he has seen simulation traces of how the 2026 cars perform, and his first impressions are far from good.
“I've been talking about that as well with the team, and I've seen the data already on the simulator as well,” he said. “To me, it looks pretty terrible.
“If you go flat-out on the straight at Monza, and I don't know what it is, like four or five hundred [metres] before the end of the straight, you have to downshift flat-out because that's faster. I think that's not the way forward. But of course, probably that's one of the worst tracks.”
Source: Autosport