FIA teases energy tweaks to 2026 F1 cars after Australia fallout

FIA technical chief Nikolas Tombazis says the governing body has “a few aces up our sleeves” to address the energy concerns raised following the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

The debut of F1’s new car regulations was met with a hail of backlash from drivers and fans alike, particularly for the effect energy management has had on the spectacle.

Tombazis noted during the Australia weekend that a review on the energy situation was carried out after Bahrain testing, but all teams were “unanimous” in wanting to keep the rules unchanged for the first two races.

Wary of making “knee-jerk” changes before adequate data from the first two rounds was collected, Tombazis says a review will be done after this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.

“We had a meeting with the teams about 10 days ago, after the Bahrain test, to review the matter,” he said in Melbourne.

“And the teams’ unanimous position was that we should stick to the current arrangements for the first few races and to review the matter when we have a bit more data.

“And, our intention is after China to be reviewing the energy management situation.

“We have a few aces up our sleeves on that, which we didn’t want to introduce ahead of the first race as a knee-jerk reaction, and which we will review with the teams after China.”

F1 is flexible enough to change, says Wolff

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff responded to driver criticisms of the new cars by noting that they weren’t enthusiastic about the previous generation.

For Wolff, fan opinion should always be the key factor in any regulations changes, and believes F1 is flexible enough to implement those as necessary this season.

Read more: Was the first race of F1's new really that bad?

“I didn’t hear any of the drivers speaking particularly good of the last cars, saying they were the best cars,” he said.

“We tend to be very nostalgic, looking at past events.

“But clealry, we’re all stakeholders of the sport. We need to have the best cars in the world, the best drivers, and being exciting for the fans.

“That’s why we just need to look at the product. One perspective is the view of the drivers, which is an important perspective.

“But Stefano [Domenicali] would say the single matrix that matters to him is what the fans think of it.

“I think that is what we need to look it. If it need to be tweaked, if we need to adjust, I think we have the flexibility in Formula 1 to make those fixes.”