Formula 1 teams already thinking about '26: This is their biggest challenge!

With first the 2024 and 2025 seasons still ahead, it seems far away. Nevertheless, by Formula 1 standards, the sweeping rulebook change - which takes effect in '26 - is extremely close. The FIA has ruled that work on aero development for that new generation of cars may not take place until '25. Yet teams are already busy thinking about the challenges looming on the horizon.

It is now clear that the cars will no longer be 200 but 190 centimetres wide. The wheelbase will also be reduced from 360 to 340 centimetres. The weight of the car will also be reduced according to the plans; by around 25 to 30 kilos. The latter in particular is going to cause teams some headaches.

Earlier, James Allison, the technical boss at Mercedes, expressed his full agreement that the "upward trend" in the weight of F1 cars must be stopped. He already advocated stating a maximum weight for the cars, and that the teams should decide which part should weigh how much. So Allison is not in favour of the FIA deciding how much parts should weigh individually at most.

Pierre Waché, his colleague at Red Bull Racing, shares the same opinion. "I agree with my colleague. I'm not sure that we will have a significant change in terms of weight. And I agree we should do with this type of… the safety we want to achieve because it's the most important aspect the safety improved a lot to the driver. And we would not like to compromise that. Plus, I think the power unit that is defined now [for ‘26] is already massively heavier than what we currently have. I think to make it significantly lighter, it will be very, very difficult," Waché said.

'Red Bull Powertrains far from competitive'

From the 2026 season, Red Bull Racing will use in-house developed and manufactured power units; the Red Bull Powertrains. Helmut Marko revealed a week ago that the development of the engines is going according to plan, but that they are still "farfrom competitive".