Formula 1 will introduce a push-to-pass power boost to replace the drag reduction system when new regulations are introduced for the 2026 season.
Active aerodynamics will also be allowed for the first time in almost 60 years to improve engine efficiency.
The controversial DRS adjustable rear wing was introduced in 2011 to combat declining rates of overtaking by allowing a following car to boost its top speed down the straights.
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The system has had the intended effect of aiding overtaking at most circuits, but passes made with DRS have added little to the spectacle, with one car usually breezing past another before the braking zone.
For more than a decade the DRS has been tolerated as a necessary evil to prevent processional racing until a permanent solution could be found to the sport’s fundamental problems with following and passing.
Some 15 years after its introduction, the FIA has taken the opportunity of a dual overhaul of the chassis and power unit regulations to pursue an IndyCar-style push-to-pass system called ‘manual override’ to deliver a boost in electrical power to aid overtaking.
“Right now with the DRS you are behind a car, within a second, [and] that ticks a box and you are allowed to open your DRS in a straight line,” FIA single-seater technical director Jan Monchaux said, per ESPN. “This will not be the case anymore.
“However, the logic will be the same: ‘I’m close enough to another car, I am given an extra amount of energy for that one lap, which I can deploy any way I want’.
“The extra amount of energy is defined, and that will give that boost of energy to eventually give the following car a chance to overtake by the end of the straight.”
The conditions of use for the so-called manual override are yet to be set by the FIA.
The manual override system is built into the new engine, which features an almost even split between internal combustion power and electrical energy.
Power derived from turbocharged V6 motor will decrease to 400 kilowatts, down from around 560 kilowatts, but battery power will be boosted from 120 kilowatts to 350 kilowatts, leading to a slight uptick in overall output compared to the current block.
Electrical energy will decline from maximum power to zero kilowatts between 290 kilometres per hour and 355 kilometres per hour.
However, a car that engages manual override will be able to continue using full electrical power up to 337 kilometres per hour plus benefit from an extra 0.5 megajoules of energy, giving it an advantage down the straights to boost overtaking chances in lieu of DRS.
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The V6 engine will be powered by a sustainable synthetic fuel. Sustainable fuel comprises carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere and is therefore considered carbon neutral when it burns.
Formula 1 is designing a ‘drop-in’ fuel, meaning the formula will be usable in any combustion engine, including those in the general automotive sector.
“The new sustainably fuelled hybrid power unit presents a huge opportunity for the global automotive industry,” F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said. “The drop in-fuel has the potential to be used by cars around the world and dramatically cut emissions.
“Its potential is one of the key reasons why we will have a record number of engine suppliers in Formula 1 in 2026.”
The electrolysis and carbon-capture processes required to produce these fuels are highly energy intensive. One study, by campaign group Transport and Environment, estimated that just 16 per cent of the energy required to produce and transport synthetic fuels is used to power an engine.
Mass production of synthetic fuels produced with green energy for the general automotive sector is therefore a long way from commercial viability.
However, there is growing viability for small-scale production that could find a niche in motorsport, allowing categories to continue racing with internal combustion engines in an environmentally sustainable way.
Domenicali has already raised the prospect of Formula 1 using synthetic fuels to return to high-revving naturally aspirated engines from 2030.
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MOVABLE AERODYNAMICS RETURN TO F1
The new cars will also make use of active aerodynamics, which have been practically banned in Formula 1 since the 1960s.
The 2026 chassis rules were designed around the new power unit and its increased percentage of electrical energy, and there were concerns during the drafting process that cars would suddenly run out of power partway down the straights owing to aerodynamic drag.
However, by the time the potential problem was discovered, power unit suppliers — including Audi, which is joining F1 for the first time — had already signed up to the new engine rules.
To work around the problem, the FIA has instead come up with a movable aerodynamic kit that will dramatically reduce drag in a straight line.
For most of the lap cars will run in what the governing body is calling ‘Z mode’, with front and rear wings both set at their default downforce-producing positions.
Down the straights drivers will be able to activate ‘X mode’, which will open flaps on both wings to make the cars instantly more aerodynamically efficient.
The low-drag X mode will be usable only on preselected parts of each circuit. Similar to DRS, it will be up to the drivers to activate it, though it will be available to all cars regardless of how close they are to another competitor.
“We have these two modes that would be set up in terms of zones around the lap, and the drivers would be able to switch between these two modes when permitted,” FIA head of aerodynamics Jason Somerville said, per Autosport.
“There may be sporting regulations that, for example, prevent use in wet conditions, but otherwise we would expect the drivers to have access to both modes around the track for every lap.”
The governing body had originally intended to have only the rear wing as a movable aerodynamic part, but simulations suggested the cars would become impossible to control with such a sudden balance shift to the front of the car, necessitating the movement of both wings.
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‘NIMBLE CARS’ THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE
The new chassis rules have been guided by a widespread desire in F1 to reduce the weight and girth of the modern F1 car after decades of ballooning size.
Size and weight have become regular topics of discussion among the drivers, particularly with the influx of new street circuits on the calendar.
The Monaco Grand Prix has become a particular dire outing for the modern car, which is too cumbersome to generate meaningful racing around the historic streets without a massive tyre offset.
“With this set of regulations the FIA has sought to develop a new generation of cars that are fully in touch with the DNA of Formula 1 — cars that are light, supremely fast and agile — but which also remain at the cutting edge of technology,” FIA single seater technical director Nikolas Tombazis said. “To achieve this we worked towards what we called a ‘nimble car’ concept.
“Lighter, more powerful and more focused on driver skill, the 2026 FIA Formula 1 technical regulations have been designed to provide closer racing among drivers, increase the competition between teams and improve the spectacle.”
Central to that ethos is a minor reduction in weight, with 2026 cars set to tip the scales at 768 kilograms, down from the current 798 kilograms, a 3.8 per cent reduction.
The new car will have its wheelbase shortened by 20 centimetres and its maximum width narrowed by 10 centimetres.
The FIA says the new designs will cut drag by 55 per cent but downforce by only 30 per cent, making the cars more efficient overall.
The cut in downforce will be achieved in part by de-emphasising ground-effect aerodynamics and re-prioritising downforce generated by bodywork.
Ground effect was reintroduced to Formula 1 with the 2022 regulations, but some drivers have complained cars now have to be run with uncomfortably and even dangerously stiff suspension to function.
Simpler and what might be considered traditional aerodynamics will be good news for Mercedes in particular, which has struggled badly to adjust to the ground-effects era.
A more familiar aerodynamic philosophy might also help to prevent the sort of major field spread experienced from 2022, since when Red Bull Racing has stolen a march on the competition that is only now beginning to close, just 18 months before the rules change again and threaten another competitive shake-up.
To try to prevent any constructor from getting a head start, all teams will be banned from starting work designing their 2026 cars until 1 January next season.