Lando put in a lot of work over the years, so his championship was deserved. Tough one for Piastri, but his performance suffered since the summer break, maybe because he got a bit too confident for his own good. Age and experience may cure that for him. He certainly has the potential to become a champion. I could also easily picture Max winning another championship, as there can be no denying that when he has a car set up 100% to his liking, he's pretty well unbeatable.
I'm very interested in seeing how the 2026 F1 cars perform. I just hope the racing excitement is not lost, and may even prove to be better. Over the decades I have followed motorsport racing, I have seen some terribly disappointing changes made with cars, and the regulations. Some were so bad I completely gave up watching the series, sometimes for a couple of years. It was like the heart of the series was ripped out, to satisfy someone's crazy ideology regarding racing.
NASCAR was one example. They mucked around for several years, and changed the series so much it was hard to follow it any longer. Then NHRA's choice to change most NHRA championship races for premier Top Fuel and Funny Car classes, from 1/4 mile to 1000' was also disappointing. I get the driver safety aspect because of the increased speeds with the newer cars, but it was also done to save track owners big money, from having to lengthen the track's needed braking room. I feel that lot of race results would have been quite different if they had the additional 320' to run.
FIA Single Seater Technical Director Nikolas Tombazis said: “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 remains at the cutting edge of technology, and to achieve this we worked towards what we called a ‘nimble car’ concept.
At the center of that vision is a redesigned power unit that features a more even split between the power derived from the internal combustion element and electrical power. On the chassis side we have managed to reduce the size and weight of the car by 30kg resulting in a much more dynamic car. In addition we are introducing two exciting new features to enhance racing – active aerodynamics to achieve very low drag on the straights and the Manual Override system that will provide drivers with an on-demand burst of battery power when close enough to the car ahead of them.
“Lighter, more powerful and more focused on driver skill, the 2026 FIA Formula One Technical Regulations have been designed to provide closer racing among drivers, increase the competition between teams and to improve the spectacle. In addition, we have opted for a higher electrical component of the power unit, a more efficient car overall, and fully sustainable fuels, as part of our drive towards a more sustainable future for our sport.”
I find the green, sustainable fuel, is more for the PC brownie points.
