The planned increase in electrification, with a 50-50 power split from the battery and combustion engine, has prompted concerns about drivers running out of energy on the straights and needing to change down gears to recharge.
There has also been some scepticism about whether or not the need for less draggy F1 cars can be achieved without it taking away some of the spectacle.
But behind closed doors, F1 chiefs and the FIA have been quietly working away on putting in place designs robust enough to erase such concerns.
It is why F1’s chief technical officer Pat Symonds recently dismissed the idea that F1 was heading for trouble with the 2026 car plans – as work going on behind the scenes was far more advanced compared to the simulations that teams were currently working off.
“The performance profile of a 2026 car in simulation now doesn't look terribly different to 2023,” he said.
“So all of this thing about hitting the top speed in the middle of the straight, it's not like that anymore.”
The reason why F1 and the FIA feel so confident is down to the computer processing powerhouse fuelling the CFD simulations that are helping create the new set of regulations.
Source: Autosport