Faced with numerous criticisms targeting the new technical regulations of Formula 1, the FIA states that it had identified the difficulties well before the start of the 2026 season, but that it did not have the power to change the rules without the agreement of the manufacturers.
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Criticism intensified after the Belgian Grand Prix, where several drivers, including Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton, denounced cars too dependent on energy management, believing that this had distorted an iconic circuit like Spa-Francorchamps.
Asked about these complaints, the FIA’s single-seater director, Nikolas Tombazis, assured that the federation was not discovering these problems: “Drivers are, by definition, very demanding people. We do not expect them to sugarcoat their remarks or to not say what they think.”
The manufacturers had a veto right
According to him, the FIA had identified these difficulties in the two years preceding the entry into force of the new regulations: “We anticipated a large part of the problems they are talking about today. We tried to make adjustments, but we failed because of the governance system in place. It was unfortunately predictable.”
Tombazis explains that the 2026 engine regulations were developed according to a governance system designed to protect both the engine manufacturers already present in Formula 1 and the newcomers, like Audi.
Within this framework, any significant modification had to be approved not only by the FIA and Formula One Management but also by a large majority of the manufacturers: “A manufacturer preparing its entry into Formula 1, like Audi, had to already comply with the same rules as the others. It would not have been fair for them to be able to spend five times more simply because they were not yet engaged in the championship.”
In return, this system strongly limited the FIA’s ability to modify the regulations alone: “Any major change had to be approved by a significant number of engine manufacturers. For the changes we wanted to make, the agreement of at least four of the five manufacturers concerned was required. Quite simply, we never obtained it during the years these adjustments were discussed.”
Measures finally adopted… but too late
Faced with difficulties encountered at the start of the season, several adjustments were finally introduced from the Miami Grand Prix, notably to improve energy management.
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Moreover, Formula 1 has already decided to gradually change the philosophy of power units by evolving, by 2028, the power split between the thermal engine and the electric part from a theoretical balance of 50/50 to 60% for the thermal engine and 40% for the hybrid system.
For Tombazis, these decisions should have been made much earlier: “It is a shame to have had to wait so long. We only started discussing the 2027 and 2028 regulations this year. Ideally, we should have made these decisions two years earlier. We would have thus avoided much of the current debate.”
The FIA still believes the show is successful
Despite the criticism, Tombazis considers that the 2026 season remains overall successful from a sporting point of view: “Most of the races have been very interesting. There have been many battles on track.”
He acknowledges that Mercedes currently has a technical advantage but recalls that during previous regulation changes, the start of a new era was often marked by much more monotonous races.
“Certainly, Mercedes has won the majority of the races, but despite that, we have seen many overtakes and position changes,” concludes the Greek engineer. “Drivers are very important stakeholders and we were right to listen to them and act. But we must also think about the spectators, who want to watch exciting races and see the sport evolve.”
The FIA official concludes that the difficulties encountered with the 2026 rules were therefore not due to a lack of anticipation by the federation, but to a governance system that prevented any major evolution without the agreement of the manufacturers. According to him, solutions existed, but the engine manufacturers did not want to adopt them in time.
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