Five things we’re glad to see the back of ahead of F1 2026

So what are you glad to see the back of at the end of the F1 2025 season?

With F1 2026 marking the start of a new era of Formula 1, our writers nominate the things they’re glad to to leave behind…

Sorry, DRS, it’s time to go

By Henry Valantine

One of the things about this era ending is that I’m finding myself more optimistic about the future than looking back and lamenting the past few years of Formula 1, which is a good sign about where Formula 1 has been in general.

However, as much as it has helped the spectacle, there’s absolutely no point denying it, it will be good to see the back of DRS.

It was never going to be a perfect system, but the reality of it being too powerful at some circuits but not powerful enough at others created some absolute thrillers, but other races where overtaking came across as either too easy or too difficult, without much in between.

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I have to acknowledge its merits, having been brought in at a time where Formula 1 was grasping at ways to try and create more ways to overtake in a series which was, at the time, quite stale when it came to outright wheel-to-wheel racing.

While I’m still very much on the fence about what is to come with Boost Mode and Overtake Mode, I’m ready for something else to be given a try.

With the drivers needing to be more cerebral in their approaches to racing, and a more level playing field when it comes to drag reduction, it should, in theory, be closer to a ‘pure’ form of racing while giving drivers the opportunity to show their skills mentally, too.

Of course, we need to wait and see what happens next year but, if this new system fails, there is a part of me which is wondering if DRS will be brought back sooner rather than later. I hope I’m wrong.

Farewell engine freeze

By Thomas Maher

Aside from ‘reliability fixes’, the F1 power units from the end of the 2025 season are essentially the exact same as the units that started the 2022 season, which seems like an awful long time ago now.

The change in regulations for 2026 means that some engineering prowess on the power unit front does become a relevant factor again, and the engines become a topic of conversation to start the new regulation cycle.

I’ve never been a particularly big believer in an engine freeze, given that I think F1 should be racing with fewer constraints, rather than more prescribed parts, and, for that reason, I’m thrilled to see the freeze finally end.

However, one aspect of the new engines I’m not so excited about is the concept of the ADUO announcement from October 2025, with the FIA set to allow additional development and upgrade opportunities to engine manufacturers who are struggling with performance deficiencies.

I’m not entirely sure why this is needed, in a regulation set that is also introducing a budget cap on the power unit manufacturers.

Why not simply allow the PU makers to do as they see fit, as long as it stays under the budget cap, just like the teams have to do with their performance-related spending?

Boring tracks (hopefully)

By Sam Cooper

While the F1 calendar will largely look the same for 2026 as it was in 2025, my true hope is that the new regulations make some of them a little less procedural.

Too many times we have heard from drivers on a Thursday of a track being ‘difficult to overtake’ on, which begs the question: what is even the point?

Safety has rightly made cars bigger but the 2022-2025 generation seemed particularly clunky and combined that with DRS trains that would not look out of place in Paddington then you were relying on either a crash of unpredictable weather for any kind of excitement.

Those cars

By Jamie Woodhouse

Here is to hoping that F1 2026’s cars will be a bit more lively and look more like a challenge.

The big, heavy ground effect cars looked too mundane out on track.

A random snap here and there, which often was very hard to rescue, did not make up for cars which looked glued to the road far too often for the sport’s own good.

With an expected 30 kilograms trimmed away, on what will be smaller cars, hopefully this new generation of F1 machinery will look a bit more reactive, especially with the increased electrical power which drivers will need to deploy and control.

We will also find out whether those ground effect cars, not to be missed by the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz, were guilty of masking driver ability at times with the unique driving style required.

Sauber

By Oliver Harden

A clip recently surfaced on social media of Martin Brundle delivering a touching tribute to Sauber at the end of 2005.

“I don’t think [Peter] Sauber’s ever really delivered anything to Formula 1, personally,” Brundle said during ITV’s coverage of that year’s season finale in China.

“He’s been around a long time, had decent budgets… and filled the midfield on his best days.

“I think it’s a good time for him to move over and let somebody else have a go.”

Twenty years on, not much has really changed.

Except from the fact that Brundle probably wouldn’t be – or, more to the point, wouldn’t be allowed to be – so blunt about it now.

There is a convincing argument that Audi’s imminent arrival is the very reason why the 2026 regulations – purposefully designed to tempt new manufacturers of such stature – exist.

If the Sauber name left people cold, the allure of Audi is enough to make the heart leap ahead of 2026.

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