2026 F1 Cars To Be Lighter, Narrower With Shorter Wheelbase

In 2017, the new aerodynamic rules were created with a vision of creating faster cars; cars that were faster than Michael Schumacher's F2004. And in 2020, we had the fastest cars of all time followed by the cars in 2019 and now 2021 which have lost some downforce because of the cut in the floor. But these new cars have made overtaking very hard - the issues around the aerodynamic wake are insufferable, while the cars are wider too which makes overtaking on tracks like Monaco impossible. These cars are heavier too and with the new engines planned for 2026 which will be dependent on biofuel and more electrical power, batteries could be larger which could make these cars heavier and slower.

So in tandem with the new engines in 2026, F1's Chief Technical Officer, Pat Symonds has also gone back to the drawing board for what the chassis of these machines will be like. And he wants these cars to be faster, more nimble, and well cleaner. Already, in 2022, there will be new aerodynamic rules which bring back Venturi tunnels and will have ground effect aerodynamics and are said to make overtaking easier. But with bigger engines that also come with a bigger electrical element with the elimination of MGU-H, these cars could become even heavier.

F1 is bringing back ground effect aerodynamics from the 80s in 2022

Symonds is aiming at a massive reduction and also makes the cars narrower while also having a shorter wheelbase. This will enable the lighter cars to be faster as the biofuel will likely result in loss of horsepower on the power unit side and the batteries and motors will add to the weight. Mercedes has for the long taken advantage of a long-wheelbase concept, something by the looks of it will be neutered largely. F1 will not redo the aerodynamic concepts that are coming next year, but rather has plans on building on top of them making the racing more close and competitive and also having more overtaking.

The narrower cars will enable better overtaking as well especially on street circuits where the main race has become a boring affair as qualifying dictates mostly what happens in the race as the cars these days have incredible reliability.