{"id":620340,"date":"2026-04-21T01:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T01:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/620340\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T01:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T01:23:13","slug":"formula-1-motorsport-news-2026-changes-to-car-engines-after-driver-uproar-qualifying-speed-and-safer-overtaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/620340\/","title":{"rendered":"Formula 1 motorsport news 2026, changes to car engines after driver uproar, qualifying speed and safer overtaking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Formula 1<\/a> is set to change how the new cars use their electrical power in an attempt to make qualifying feel more \u201cflat out\u201d and overtaking less likely to result in high-speed crashes, all in time for next week’s Miami Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

Governing body the FIA said the changes were agreed in a meeting with the F1 teams, engine manufacturers and Formula One Management, after consulting drivers.<\/p>\n

They’re subject to approval from the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council, which is typically a formality when changes have broad support.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Dragons rip ‘fabricated’ report as shock Young rift revealed<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Hollands admitted to hospital as Blues probed over sad saga<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Usain Bolt’s timely advice to Aussie sprint star Gout Gout<\/a><\/p>\n

F1’s greater emphasis on electrical hybrid power has prompted a backlash from some drivers that qualifying is too focused on strategic recharging of the battery and not enough of a test of driving skill.<\/p>\n

One package of changes allows faster recharging at high speed and reduces the maximum amount that can be recharged per lap.<\/p>\n

\"Oscar<\/p>\n

Oscar Piastri finished in fifth for the final practice of 2025. \u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

A key aim is \u201creducing excessive harvesting (of energy) and encouraging more consistent flat-out driving”, the FIA said.<\/p>\n

That largely matches recommendations last week by Mercedes’ George Russell, who’s started 2026 as a title contender.<\/p>\n

After a dramatic crash at the Japanese Grand Prix where Oliver Bearman went off track to avoid Franco Colapinto’s much slower car, the FIA said there’s now a cap on the extra power from the overtake \u201cboost\u201d mode, and other limits to electrical power in certain areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese measures are designed to reduce excessive closing speeds while maintaining overtaking opportunities and overall performance characteristics,\u201d the FIA said.<\/p>\n

Those measures, and safety changes for wet-weather driving, will be ready for the Miami GP on May 3.<\/p>\n

Other changes to reduce the risk of a crash on the starting grid will be trialled in Miami, including a boost for slow-starting cars and a visual warning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Formula 1 is set to change how the new cars use their electrical power in an attempt to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-620340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620340","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=620340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}