![](\"https:\/\/www.grandprix.com\/display\/photo?photo_caption=Drivers%2C+Japanese+GP+2026&photo_copyright=%C2%A9+Haas&photo_url=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.grandprix.com%2Fjpeg%2Fraces%2Fpjap26%2Fsun%2Fhas%2Fdrivers1-lg.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDrivers, Japanese GP 2026
\u00a9 Haas<\/p>\n
The first of a series of meetings to discuss potential changes to the 2026 Formula 1 regulations was convened today by the FIA, the governing body said after the April 9 summit.<\/p>\n
It was generally agreed … there was a commitment to making tweaks to some aspects of the regulations in the area of energy management.<\/p>\n
Further meetings are already scheduled, including technical sessions on April 15 and 16, before a decisive high-level gathering on April 20 where preferred options will be discussed.<\/p>\n
At the heart of the issue is the heavy focus on energy management – particularly in qualifying, where drivers have been forced to lift on straights or through fast corners rather than deliver flat-out laps.<\/p>\n
Former Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko says that shift has fundamentally altered the sport – and led to Max Verstappen hinting at a sabbatical or full F1 exit.<\/p>\n
Max is a thoroughbred racer, he told motorsport-magazin.com. The current regulations are extremely focused on energy management – this only works in conjunction with the software engineers. The driver has been deprived of his dominant role.<\/p>\n
While some adjustments now appear inevitable, Marko is not convinced they will go far enough.<\/p>\n
There will be adaptations, but whether it will be possible to ensure that the driver is the decisive factor again, I cannot currently assess, he added.<\/p>\n
Others believe meaningful changes are both possible and relatively straightforward.<\/p>\n
Former prominent F1 engineer Toni Cuquerella told Marca that the solution may lie in rebalancing the hybrid system rather than redesigning it entirely.<\/p>\n
With minimal changes, you can have a huge impact on how the race is run, how qualifying is done, he said.<\/p>\n
We currently have 350kW, but that only lasts us halfway down the straight. We can reduce the electric motor’s power output so it lasts the entire straight.<\/p>\n
Former F1 driver Jean-Eric Vergne, speaking to AS newspaper, suggested part of the backlash may stem from confusion around the concept itself.<\/p>\n
Perhaps F1 hasn’t properly explained why they wanted to go 50 percent electric and the changes that would bring, said the Frenchman and now Formula E driver.<\/p>\n
(GMM)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"APRIL 11, 2026 Formula 1’s first April crisis talks over the controversial 2026 regulations have concluded with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[944,855,884,911,898,64,63,839,840,892,936,937,922,864,868,843,512,874,906,897,817,836,904,848,845,826,837,813,835,816,867,876,894,841,842,833,908,887,860,909,930,914,939,886,934,832,834,858,941,875,861,850,870,854,900,866,846,880,943,889,878,823,881,863,933,935,910,859,913,844,923,927,896,926,883,938,932,824,901,871,852,849,888,872,891,915,822,838,918,916,857,879,893,869,931,885,924,847,882,851,865,925,928,942,929,85,920,921,902,862,919,917,873,940,905,912,895,853,856,877,819,903,899,907,890],"class_list":{"0":"post-600431","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-abu-dhabi","9":"tag-adrian-sutil","10":"tag-albers","11":"tag-alesi","12":"tag-ammermuller","13":"tag-au","14":"tag-australia","15":"tag-autoracing","16":"tag-autos","17":"tag-badoer","18":"tag-bahrain","19":"tag-barcelona","20":"tag-benetton","21":"tag-bruno-senna","22":"tag-button","23":"tag-cars","24":"tag-china","25":"tag-david-coulthard","26":"tag-davidson","27":"tag-doornbos","28":"tag-f1","29":"tag-f1-racing","30":"tag-fauzy","31":"tag-felipe-massa","32":"tag-fernando-alonso","33":"tag-ferrari","34":"tag-fia","35":"tag-formula-1","36":"tag-formula-one","37":"tag-formula1","38":"tag-giancarlo-fisichella","39":"tag-gilles-villeneuve","40":"tag-glock","41":"tag-grand-prix","42":"tag-grandprix","43":"tag-grandprix-com","44":"tag-hakkinen","45":"tag-hamilton","46":"tag-heikki-kovalainen","47":"tag-hill","48":"tag-hockenheim","49":"tag-honda","50":"tag-hungary","51":"tag-ide","52":"tag-indianapolis","53":"tag-inside-f1","54":"tag-insidef1-com","55":"tag-jaime-alguesuari","56":"tag-japan","57":"tag-jaques-villeneuve","58":"tag-jarno-trulli","59":"tag-jenson-button","60":"tag-juan-pablo-montoya","61":"tag-kamui-kobayashi","62":"tag-karthikeyan","63":"tag-karun-chandhok","64":"tag-kimi-raikkonen","65":"tag-klien","66":"tag-korea","67":"tag-kovalainen","68":"tag-kubica","69":"tag-lewis-hamilton","70":"tag-liuzzi","71":"tag-lucas-di-grassi","72":"tag-magny-cours","73":"tag-malaysia","74":"tag-mansell","75":"tag-mark-webber","76":"tag-mclaren","77":"tag-michael-schumacher","78":"tag-minardi","79":"tag-monaco","80":"tag-montagny","81":"tag-monte-carlo","82":"tag-monteiro","83":"tag-montreal","84":"tag-monza","85":"tag-motorsport","86":"tag-nakajima","87":"tag-nick-heidfeld","88":"tag-nico-hulkenberg","89":"tag-nico-rosberg","90":"tag-paffett","91":"tag-pedro-de-la-rosa","92":"tag-piquet","93":"tag-prost","94":"tag-racing","95":"tag-racingcars","96":"tag-red-bull","97":"tag-renault","98":"tag-robert-kubica","99":"tag-rosberg","100":"tag-rossiter","101":"tag-rubens-barrichello","102":"tag-san-marino","103":"tag-sato","104":"tag-sauber","105":"tag-schumacher","106":"tag-scott-speed","107":"tag-sebastian-vettel","108":"tag-sebastien-buemi","109":"tag-senna","110":"tag-silverstone","111":"tag-singapore","112":"tag-spa","113":"tag-sports","114":"tag-spyker","115":"tag-super-aguri","116":"tag-sutil","117":"tag-timo-glock","118":"tag-toro-rosso","119":"tag-toyota","120":"tag-trulli","121":"tag-turkey","122":"tag-valles","123":"tag-verstappen","124":"tag-vettel","125":"tag-vitaly-petrov","126":"tag-vitantonio-liuzzi","127":"tag-webber","128":"tag-williams","129":"tag-winkelhock","130":"tag-wurz","131":"tag-yamamoto","132":"tag-zonta"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}