Monday\u2019s meeting of the F1 team bosses with the FIA, FOM, and the power unit manufacturers will decide on the next steps of evolving the current regulations.<\/p>\n
Following two exploratory meetings during the informal spring break, F1\u2019s power players are set to meet on Monday afternoon to table firm proposals for regulatory tweaks to introduce at the Miami Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
F1 team bosses meet over Miami 2026 rules changes<\/p>\n
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Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust.<\/p>\n With the F1 2026 regulations firmly under the microscope after the first three races of the championship, proposals aimed at improving the driving experience and bringing back more natural driving dynamics are set to be tabled at a meeting on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n Scheduled for 1400 UK time, the meeting brings together all the power players of the F1 Commission to evaluate ideas to be put to a vote.<\/p>\n PlanetF1.com has previously reported on the mooted changes, which include an increase in the superclipping rate to a 350kW harvest, as well as a bespoke energy harvesting limit at different race tracks.<\/p>\n Currently, the usual energy harvesting limit is set at 8.5mJ as a default but, with the drivers having to engage in excessive lift-and-coast techniques, long spells of superclipping at the current 250kW rate, and a general passivity towards the corner approach in order to ensure optimal energy deployment down the straights, this limit could be reduced significantly.<\/p>\n This step would obviously come at the detriment of lap time. While exact figures are not yet firmed up, a reduction to around 5-6mJ would significantly reduce the need for drastic energy harvesting techniques.<\/p>\n The drivers have, by and large, been quite critical of the regulation changes, with the likes of Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, and Oliver Bearman being particularly vocal in expressing their dissatisfaction with how the regulations have changed the approach to driving.<\/p>\n Added to that are safety concerns: after months of warnings from the drivers, the Japanese Grand Prix saw a huge crash for Bearman as the British driver was caught out by a large closing speed delta against Franco Colapinto, as his battery was in full energy deployment mode.<\/p>\n Last week, the drivers met with the FIA on two occasions to express their views, and a particularly positive meeting saw refinements and tweaks agreed, in principle.<\/p>\n However, the drivers, even through the Grand Prix Drivers\u2019 Association, do not have a voice in governance and, thus, it will be down to their teams, as well as the FIA, FOM, and the power unit manufacturers, to table their votes.<\/p>\n On Sunday night, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem posted on social media about the driver meetings.<\/p>\n \u201cI am delighted to report that there has been constructive and collaborative discussion between the FIA and the Formula 1 drivers ahead of [Monday]\u2019s CEOs and team principals meeting to discuss potential changes to the 2026 Regulations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe drivers have provided invaluable input on adjustments which they feel should be made, particularly in the areas of energy management to ensure safe, fair, and competitive racing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe FIA has also held a series of meetings over the past few weeks with technical representatives from the teams, power unit manufacturers, and FOM to discuss proposed changes. Safety and the best interests of the sport are the main focus of these discussions.<\/p>\n \u201cFollowing the meeting tomorrow, the final proposals will be put before an FIA WMSC e-vote.\u201d<\/p>\n However, in order for immediate change to the regulations to take effect in Miami, the voting must be unanimous, and there have been indications that this may not come to pass, with sources suggesting that the drivers feel their voices are not being heard by their own teams.<\/p>\n This could be down to \u201cvested interests\u201d of teams obviously being quite different from those of the drivers: while a team or power unit manufacturer may wish to continue in a particular direction due to a competitive aspect, this is not necessarily in line with a driver\u2019s wishes for overall enjoyment or ability to utilise their talents.<\/p>\n It\u2019s expected that Monday\u2019s decisive meeting will see \u201ccommon sense\u201d prevail but, if voting does not result in tangible change, the FIA does have power, as the governing body, to overrule and make changes based on safety grounds.<\/p>\n Toto Wolff: F1 rule changes must be made with a scalpel, not a baseball bat<\/p>\n Speaking to select media, including PlanetF1.com, on Monday morning, Mercedes team boss and CEO Toto Wolff said that he\u2019s hopeful of some \u201cgood solutions\u201d being ratified through the World Motor Sport Council.<\/p>\n \u201cI must really say that the discussions that have been taking place between the group of drivers, the FIA, Formula 1, and the teams have been constructive, and we all share the same objectives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s how we can improve the product and make it out-and-out racing and look at what can improve in terms of safety, but act with a scalpel and not with a baseball bat.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I think we are coming to good solutions that we ratify, hopefully today, in order to evolve, because it\u2019s only three races in.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a way, we need to learn from the past, where sometimes decisions were made in an erratic way, and then we overshot and realised it wasn\u2019t good, because we are custodians of this sport, and, in that respect, I am carefully optimistic that we\u2019re going to improve the racing whilst we align the aforementioned objectives, whilst keeping the racing really good.\u201d<\/p>\n With the F1 2026 regulations already resulting in changes such as tweaks to the starting procedures due to the length of time it takes to spool up the turbos for safe starts off the grid, the potential is that the process could be ongoing, rather than it being a \u2018one-and-done\u2019 refinement at this early point of the season.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that if you have aligned objectives and you define those objectives at the beginning, that is, how can we work on making qualifying more spectacular and enjoyable for the drivers?\u201d Wolff said, when asked by PlanetF1.com about this.<\/p>\n \u201cHow can we target safety objectives and, at the same time, protect what\u2019s really good within the racing, the overtaking, and that\u2019s why those first steps look like they are in the right direction, not overshooting, not undershooting.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, if you come to the conclusion further down the line that we need to maybe redefine the objective, then so be it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the moment, I think that\u2019s carved out in a pretty clear way, and that\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? 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