![](\"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":["post-600431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-abu-dhabi","tag-adrian-sutil","tag-albers","tag-alesi","tag-ammermuller","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-autoracing","tag-autos","tag-badoer","tag-bahrain","tag-barcelona","tag-benetton","tag-bruno-senna","tag-button","tag-cars","tag-china","tag-david-coulthard","tag-davidson","tag-doornbos","tag-f1","tag-f1-racing","tag-fauzy","tag-felipe-massa","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-ferrari","tag-fia","tag-formula-1","tag-formula-one","tag-formula1","tag-giancarlo-fisichella","tag-gilles-villeneuve","tag-glock","tag-grand-prix","tag-grandprix","tag-grandprix-com","tag-hakkinen","tag-hamilton","tag-heikki-kovalainen","tag-hill","tag-hockenheim","tag-honda","tag-hungary","tag-ide","tag-indianapolis","tag-inside-f1","tag-insidef1-com","tag-jaime-alguesuari","tag-japan","tag-jaques-villeneuve","tag-jarno-trulli","tag-jenson-button","tag-juan-pablo-montoya","tag-kamui-kobayashi","tag-karthikeyan","tag-karun-chandhok","tag-kimi-raikkonen","tag-klien","tag-korea","tag-kovalainen","tag-kubica","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-liuzzi","tag-lucas-di-grassi","tag-magny-cours","tag-malaysia","tag-mansell","tag-mark-webber","tag-mclaren","tag-michael-schumacher","tag-minardi","tag-monaco","tag-montagny","tag-monte-carlo","tag-monteiro","tag-montreal","tag-monza","tag-motorsport","tag-nakajima","tag-nick-heidfeld","tag-nico-hulkenberg","tag-nico-rosberg","tag-paffett","tag-pedro-de-la-rosa","tag-piquet","tag-prost","tag-racing","tag-racingcars","tag-red-bull","tag-renault","tag-robert-kubica","tag-rosberg","tag-rossiter","tag-rubens-barrichello","tag-san-marino","tag-sato","tag-sauber","tag-schumacher","tag-scott-speed","tag-sebastian-vettel","tag-sebastien-buemi","tag-senna","tag-silverstone","tag-singapore","tag-spa","tag-sports","tag-spyker","tag-super-aguri","tag-sutil","tag-timo-glock","tag-toro-rosso","tag-toyota","tag-trulli","tag-turkey","tag-valles","tag-verstappen","tag-vettel","tag-vitaly-petrov","tag-vitantonio-liuzzi","tag-webber","tag-williams","tag-winkelhock","tag-wurz","tag-yamamoto","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}]}}