F1 chief on 2026 technical regulations: 'Even more battles possible'

Last week, the Autosport International-event took place. Here, Pat Symonds, technical director of Formula 1, opened up about the potential changes to the 2026 technical regulations.

Symonds predicts that in 2026 it will become even easier for cars to fight each other. There is criticism of the DRS system with the current regulations and something will have to change, but it is unlikely to disappear according to the technical director. An adjustment needs to be made for the optimal result on track.

More downforce needed

"DRS is drag reduction. What I’ve always felt we should do is have downforce augmentation. Because what does the car behind do? Yes it loses some drag, but what really holds it is the fact it lost downforce," Symonds said at the event hosted by Autosport.

So the idea is to start increasing the downforce to allow more battles on the track. The downforce should be able to be the same as when the leading car were not there. Currently, overtaking is made easy because of the DRS system and many people are vehemently against it. Symonds points out that the tussle that precedes overtaking is much more interesting than the overtaking itself. The idea, therefore, is that increasing the downforce will make overtaking less obvious.