Nikolas Tombazis, Head of FIA Single Seaters believes some manufacturers could face 'eternal misery' in 2026. Photo: RacePictures

FIA boss' stark 2026 'eternal misery' warning to Red Bull and Audi

11:33, 17 Sep

Updated: 13:37, 17 Sep

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byNorberto Mujica

FIA Single Seater Director, Nikolas Tombazis has stated the governing body are expecting significant gaps between teams in 2026, and suggests some teams could face 'eternal misery.'

nikolas-tombazis-fia-with-george-russell

Nikolas Tombazis with George Russell in the paddock, Photo: Race Pictures

if you are behind in performance in a significant manner and you cannot outspend to recover the performance, you may be condemned to eternal misery by being eternally behind.

- Nikolas Tombazis

According to the Associated Press, Pirelli have disclosed that some teams' data differs in terms of lap time by up to four seconds, a gap too big that could see teams fail to qualify for the races.

F1's competitveness is governed by the 107% rule that states that any team who fails to be within that margin of the leader could face not being elegible to stand on the grid at all.

In conversation with AP, Tombazis dismissed that theory.

“I think 107% is pretty unlikely, in my view,” Tombazis said. “Next year we have a wider level of uncertainty in performances, it’s absolutely true. We have newcomers. We have new regulations. Two of those things combined can mean that there could be bigger gaps in some places.”

In 2026 Audi will join the sport as a full works team, Red Bull Racing will take the championship on as a power unit manufacturer for the first time in its history in collaboration with Ford, should they not hit the ground running, they me face 'eternal misery,' due to the cost cap.

“[The cost cap] is essential for the financial sustainability of the sport, so I would obviously defend that to death,” Tombazis argued, but not without spotting its potential pit falls.

“It creates a problem that if you are behind in performance in a significant manner and you cannot outspend to recover the performance, you may be condemned to eternal misery by being eternally behind.”

However, the FIA Single Seater Director, despite stating the governing body was looking for solutions to this issue, did stress that BoP-like measures would never find their way into Formula 1.

“We’re not adding any artificial performance to any car or artificial ballast on any car or anything like that,” he said. “This is absolutely not something that will ever happen in Formula 1.”

F1 drivers complain about the 2026 regulations

F1 drivers have complained about the 2026 regulations, arguing that the cars behave counterintuitively, accussing slowing down the straights, the energy deployment kicking in at inconsistent instances throughout a lap, and more.

Furthermore, the 2026 regulations are not finalised as of yet, as manufacturers, F1 and the FIA are still in the process of finetuning them before they're premiered in 6 months time.