Charles Leclerc reveals new details of ‘strange’ F1 2026 rules

Charles Leclerc suggests drivers will face a career-first challenge with F1’s all-new regulations next season.

Sweeping new chassis and power unit regulations are set to be introduced in what has been billed as the biggest rule change in the category’s near eight-decade history.

Charles Leclerc: Drivers will have to forget what they know about racing

While Formula 1 will retain turbo-hybrid power units, the world championship will see an increased emphasis on electrical energy.

Half of the car’s power will come from the hybrid system as sustainable fuels will be used in the internal combustion engine.

That will be complemented by revised aerodynamic regulations that will do away with ground effect in favour of a return to largely flat floor designs, and moveable wings.

The combination of aero and power unit changes promises a new style of racing, with early simulations affording drivers an opportunity to experience what they’re in for.

“It’s very, very different to what we are used to,” Leclerc told media, including PlanetF1.com. “I think drivers, there will be a lot of things that we’ll have to forget from whatever we’ve learned in our career to start again from a blank page.

“That’s a little bit strange because, having done this sport since I’m four years old, to be having to erase something from my muscle memory will be, would be a little bit strange. But it’s part of the game, and in itself, it’s a challenge to try and reinvent a little bit the rules and find some performance in other things.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge, but it’s very different.”

Leclerc’s opinion matches with comments by Alex Albon, who suggested the style of racing will change with the new regulations.

The Williams driver has suggested F1 will become a more less version of Formula E, with energy management predicted to be an early performance differentiator.

“It’s difficult to drive. The load on the driver, mentally, is high as well,” Albon told the media, including PlanetF1.com, in Belgium.

“It’s quite important to know how to use the engine and the deployment, and you have to learn a different driving style, but it’s part of the regulations.

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“It’s technology, at the end of the day. So, on our side, I wasn’t that shocked by the car, the performance of the car.

“It was more just getting my head around the PU and understanding how to make the most of that.”

In anticipation of the new regulations, teams have already begun shifting their focus to the development of next year’s chassis – power unit development having been underway for much longer.

The radical shift is expected to shake up the pecking order and shift the emphasis away from aerodynamics back to the power unit, as it was during the hybrid era of 2014-2021.

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