How 'scalpel' changes to F1 will change the racing at the Miami Grand Prix

Avoiding another huge crash

Drivers had been warning for months about big differences in speed, and the big crashes that could result. It finally happened at the Japanese Grand Prix in March as Oliver Bearman hurtled toward a barrier at 190 mph (306 kph) while trying to avoid Franco Colapinto. Bearman was left limping but it could have been worse at a street circuit with barriers closer to the track. There’s now a cap on the extra power from the overtake “boost” mode, and other limits to electrical power in certain areas. Other safety-focused changes will speed up slow-moving cars at a race start or aim to make cars more controllable in wet weather — conditions the 2026 cars have yet to face.

Qualifying becomes a different challenge

Qualifying will feel faster but actually be slower now that drivers aren’t lifting off the gas as often to recharge batteries. That's because the batteries won't recharge quite as much, and they'll charge more quickly at high speed, too. That means the drivers will be “flat out” more often, even if less electrical power means the cars will be slower overall, Tombazis has said. “We felt drivers had to do some slightly counterintuitive or unnatural things in order to extract the best performance out of qualifying,” he said. That largely matches recommendations by Mercedes’ George Russell, who’s started 2026 as a title contender and is influential in the paddock as a drivers' association director.

What hasn't changed

The changes don't give drivers much more control over how and when most of the electrical power is deployed. Except for the optional boost button for overtaking, most of the time, complex algorithms release the power or cut it back in a way that isn't directly related to the driver's use of the gas pedal. That could mean drivers still get unexpected power spikes which can waste power or make the car tricky to control. Some of the changes mean more automatic control of the power, lowering the limit in certain parts of the circuit for safety reasons. Tombazis confirmed there was no measure specifically to stop unintentional overtaking, often caused by getting more power than expected at an unfavorable point on the track, but argued other safety-focused changes “go to some extent towards addressing this issue.”

What’s next

Tombazis said the FIA will keep reviewing how the regulations work at upcoming races and could make further changes. There isn't an obvious time to do so until the summer break in August, with eight races before then. Teams will be hunting for any loopholes in the meantime. Tombazis says he has a regulations staff of around 15 at the FIA, compared to 3,000 engineers across the 11 teams. “The fact we had a break meant that we could concentrate on these discussions while we didn’t have to go racing every other weekend. It doesn’t mean that these discussions cannot continue,” he said Monday. There's also the looming question of what comes next for F1 when these regulations run their course, by 2030 at the latest. \\\_ AP auto racing: