2026 F1 Cars - General Thread

[mzso]

I don't mind long cars, I'm more concerned about heavy cars due to the ongoing institutional mission creep.

I think long cars have far worse effects than a bit of extra weight. Not that I think F1 should be so heavy.

[Stu]

You know that the cars are too long when the ‘bell-housing’ is used for housing the suspension…

[michl420]

I heard today that an idea is 16 inch tyres. That save supposedly around 16 kg.

[organic]

I heard today that an idea is 16 inch tyres. That save supposedly around 16 kg.

Going from 13->18 cost about 15kg so I'm not sure how going 18->16 would save 16kg, but maybe they found areas with the wheels that weight can be dropped. Reduced downforce and weight may mean wheel construction can be lighter

[wogx]

Maybe it's time to use carbon rims?

[Tommy Cookers]

Maybe it's time to use carbon rims?

does anybody do this - anywhere ?

how would cfc be better than magnesium alloy ?

[wogx]

Hollow carbon rims could be lighter than magnesium rims

Even Formula Student teams use CFC wheels:

[dialtone]

Very little chance to switch to carbon rims. Catastrophic failure scenario is too easy. Any wheel to wheel contact could lead to the wheel disintegrating.

Edit: Plus those rims get super hot and structural carbon doesn’t like temperature all that much making it even more brittle. People complain about pirelli tires separating in qatar and you could expect similar stuff from those rims.

[mzso]

I wish there were more news about the new formula. It already seems like they will drag it out again, and delay it for a year, again.
Not sure if the further messing with the rim size accomplishes anything but another sham tender creation for Pirelli.

[organic]

The Formula 1 car for 2026 is taking more and more concrete forms. We asked around the paddock and gathered information about the planned changes. From this we had a 3D model created that corresponds to the current status of the plans and shows many of the new features. In the gallery you will get a first impression of what the future of the premier class will look like.

[Vanja #66]

Thanks for sharing! There are some interesting insights:

- The rim size shrinks from 18 to 16 inches, which reduces the diameter and width of the tires by ten percent.
- The rear wing gets four elements instead of two, a main blade and three flaps. There are also considerations to make the beam wing or the diffuser edge movable.
- There is currently talk of 25 to even 30 kilograms. (weight reduction)
- A return to gas springs has been discussed, but the FIA ​​is not really enthusiastic about this simpler method. There is concern that teams will discover this as a new battlefield.
- In order to compensate for the loss of downforce due to a less pronounced rise in the rear diffuser, the Venturi channels at the front entrance can be set higher. Two additional fins can also be attached under the car on the left and right before the diffuser rises to direct the flow more inwards.

Overall these seem like sensible solutions, although I have some doubts about a few things. It seems DRS mechanism in the rear will be the same in principal and will also be used to reduce flap(s) angle for low-drag mode. This is sensible and expected, but I'm not sure why they'd want to introduce more flaps since you can do this even with the one flap we have today. I guess the same idea goes for front wing design.

Inwash front wing is much needed, for a long time. I doubt the footplates will really be as big as shown on these illustrations, it's just another part of the car that can get damaged and leave debris on track... Inwash sidepod deflectors make sense somewhat, though they might not be as big as depicted.

Floor entry changes explained here don't really make sense, unless the AMuS didn't fully understand what they were actually told. For any given outlet size, you are also limited on the inlet size. Perhaps these two extra strakes will make it even smaller than today (the actual inner-most inlet, between the keel and inner-most strake).

[wuzak]

Thanks for sharing! There are some interesting insights:

- The rim size shrinks from 18 to 16 inches, which reduces the diameter and width of the tires by ten percent.
- The rear wing gets four elements instead of two, a main blade and three flaps. There are also considerations to make the beam wing or the diffuser edge movable.
- There is currently talk of 25 to even 30 kilograms. (weight reduction)
- A return to gas springs has been discussed, but the FIA ​​is not really enthusiastic about this simpler method. There is concern that teams will discover this as a new battlefield.
- In order to compensate for the loss of downforce due to a less pronounced rise in the rear diffuser, the Venturi channels at the front entrance can be set higher. Two additional fins can also be attached under the car on the left and right before the diffuser rises to direct the flow more inwards.

Overall these seem like sensible solutions, although I have some doubts about a few things. It seems DRS mechanism in the rear will be the same in principal and will also be used to reduce flap(s) angle for low-drag mode. This is sensible and expected, but I'm not sure why they'd want to introduce more flaps since you can do this even with the one flap we have today. I guess the same idea goes for front wing design.

Inwash front wing is much needed, for a long time. I doubt the footplates will really be as big as shown on these illustrations, it's just another part of the car that can get damaged and leave debris on track... Inwash sidepod deflectors make sense somewhat, though they might not be as big as depicted.

Floor entry changes explained here don't really make sense, unless the AMuS didn't fully understand what they were actually told. For any given outlet size, you are also limited on the inlet size. Perhaps these two extra strakes will make it even smaller than today (the actual inner-most inlet, between the keel and inner-most strake).

If they get rid of those footplates and make the floor narrower (my preference would be the old 1,400mm wide bodywork form many moons ago) and then it is starting to look like something.

16" rims at the front make sense to allow better vision for the driver, though they could have stayed with the 18" rear if they wanted (presumably it was to save weight also).

[AR3-GP]

16" rims at the front make sense to allow better vision for the driver, though they could have stayed with the 18" rear if they wanted (presumably it was to save weight also).

It could be an attempt at drag and weight reduction.

[Vanja #66]

If they get rid of those footplates and make the floor narrower (my preference would be the old 1,400mm wide bodywork form many moons ago) and then it is starting to look like something.

Agreed.

It could be an attempt at drag and weight reduction.

Indeed, but more drag than weight. Drag is very scary for batteries

[mzso]

The Formula 1 car for 2026 is taking more and more concrete forms. We asked around the paddock and gathered information about the planned changes. From this we had a 3D model created that corresponds to the current status of the plans and shows many of the new features. In the gallery you will get a first impression of what the future of the premier class will look like.

https://twitter.com/tgruener/status/172 ... 14209?s=20

AMuS can reveal first renderings of the next-gen F1 car planned for 2026.

- wheel base -20cm
- width -10cm
- 16 inch wheels
- inwash aero concept (FW & floor)
- new RW design
- wider flow deflectors
- active aero (FW & RW)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F-80866XIAA ... &name=orig

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F-8086zW4AA ... &name=orig

https://imgr1.auto-motor-und-sport.de/F ... 053591.jpg

https://imgr1.auto-motor-und-sport.de/F ... 053596.jpg

So pretty much nothing will change meaningfully. Cars 20 cm shorter, insignificant. But 10cm narrower as well, so they will still look and behave like buses. They'll shed a tiny amount of weight, and mess a bit with the aero, so they say they did something.
The most significant thing is that they'll have active aero, which can only mean no more DRS effect when inside 1 sec. So they'll smother what little on-track action exists now.

(Not sure what "flow deflectors" is supposed to mean. That's pretty much every aero element.)