Changes are coming to Formula 1. It could spell trouble for Piastri

Formula 1 is defined by eras.

Most recently, it was the Red Bull era with Dutchman Max Verstappen claiming four consecutive world championships from 2021 to 2024. That ended when McLaren’s Lando Norris dethroned him this month.

Before Verstappen, it was Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes era, with the Brit winning six driver titles. Before them, it was Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.

But as good as these drivers are, and were, they’re nothing without their cars.

In 2025, McLaren finally mastered the making of a championship-winning car. In 2026, the cars will change.

It means there’s no guarantee we’re about to welcome in a McLaren era with either Norris or Australian Oscar Piastri. And in a sport that’s so cutthroat, and where the difference between winning and losing can come down to hundredths of a second, Piastri may have just missed his best – or only – chance to become world champion.

The changes could be a welcome relief for teams that struggled for championship points and consistency in 2025. It’s even a welcome change for a team like Ferrari that fell to fourth in the team standings and failed to win a race this year.

If history has proven anything, it’s the team that finds the right formula early under the new regulations that will dominate the next era of racing.

When Mercedes mastered the new V6 power unit in 2014, the UK-based team won seven consecutive driver titles with Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. And while Verstappen wrestled the championship off Hamilton in 2021, it was Red Bull who kept the momentum and dominated when regulations changed in 2022.

The new rules have been on teams’ radars for years, and most teams were sinking time and resources into the next iteration of their car well before the 2025 season closed. If teams weren’t thinking about 2026 when the chequered flag dropped at the finale in Abu Dhabi, then they were already on the back foot.

What are the changes in 2026?

To the average fan, an F1 car isn’t going to look much different in 2026.

But technically, everything is changing. In 2026, cars will be narrower, shorter and lighter. Floors will also become flatter and will be required to be higher off the ground, while rear and front wings are also in for an adjustment.

Rear wing beams are going completely, while front wings will also become narrower, and team cars will be able to adjust the angles of both front and rear wings at different points on track which will help reduce drag and increase speed.

The cars will still use a V6 engine, but the power units will change to become 50 per cent electric and 50 per cent petrol.

In terms of racing, the major change that comes into effect is the loss of the drag reduction system (DRS).

DRS was first introduced in 2011, and allowed drivers to open their rear wing (making them go faster) if they were within one second of the car in front in designated DRS zones.

Instead, in 2026, drivers will have access to ‘overtake mode’.

Whereas DRS had to be used in specific areas, overtake mode can be used anywhere on the track if they are within one second of the car in front.

It means drivers will have to be more strategic about when they activate, which will be via a button on the steering wheel.

How has McLaren fared with past changes, and what does it mean for Piastri?

The last time a McLaren driver was world champion (before Norris) was when Lewis Hamilton lifted the trophy in 2008.

The team enjoyed great success for the next four years, finishing in the top three of the constructors race, but went downhill when engine changes were introduced in 2014.

McLaren swapped from using Mercedes to Honda power units in 2015, and the team struggled for the next three years.

There were improvements when the team switched to Renault in 2019, and again when they swapped back to Mercedes in 2021. Australian Daniel Ricciardo snagged the team’s first race victory since 2012 at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, and Norris was consistently picking up podiums that year.

But the team once again regressed when regulation changes were introduced in 2022.

Precedent would indicate that McLaren struggles in the first year of changes. However, the team has its most consistent driver lineup in more than a decade with Piastri and Norris, and has gone from strength-to-strength under chief executive Zak Brown.

McLaren will be sticking with the Mercedes power unit in 2026, and they’ll get their first indication of how they compare when pre-season testing gets under way behind closed doors in January. Whether they’re capable of defending their driver and constrictor championship is yet to be seen.

What have McLaren said about the changes?

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In an interview with Harvard Business Review, Brown said he’d love to have the same car in 2026, but “that’s not what Formula 1 is about”.

“I think my team would get bored if we didn’t have something new to do. We’re excited about the new regulations. It’s certainly a huge challenge,” he said.

“There’s no guarantee that we’ll be at the front of the field. I’d like to think we will be; we’ve got a great team. There’s no reason that we shouldn’t be. But it does run the risk, if you like, from our point of view, of mixing up the show. But that’s what’s great for Formula 1.”