David Coulthard pins initial F1 2026 ‘disappointment’ on FIA

David Coulthard believes that the tweaks worked, but questioned why the “obvious” F1 2026 flaws had to play out first to trigger a reaction.

For that situation, Coulthard, the 13-time grand prix winner, is blaming Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA. However, the FIA’s single seater director Nikolas Tombazis blamed manufacturers who were stubborn to change.

David Coulthard claims FIA ignored ‘obvious’ F1 2026 flaws

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A new era was ushered into the sport for F1 2026, with revised chassis regulations and new power units, which feature a near 50/50 split of electrical power and an internal combustion engine running on fully sustainable biofuels.

The power units have proven polarising. Formula 1 chief Stefano Domenicali insists that the fans love this Formula 1, though the likes of Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been critical of the sport’s new battery-influenced style of competition.

Verstappen actually sounded the alarm on these regulations all the way back in Austria 2023.

Yet, the powers that be did not listen, according to Coulthard.

With drivers superclipping and lifting a common sight, the FIA made tweaks to energy harvesting limits to encourage more flat-out competition.

Coulthard believes that this response has been rewarded, but he questions why it was even required.

The visits to Silverstone and Spa, two of the calendar’s high-speed venues, sparked fresh criticism. Sky F1’s Martin Brundle called for the demise of these regulations as soon as possible.

The return to a less power sensitive track in the shape of the Hungaroring dulled such noise.

The ratio of electrical versus ICE energy is set to be tweaked for F1 2027 more in favour of the ICE, ahead of a further planned shift for 2028.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has said that V8 engines are coming back to the sport by no later than 2031. Yet, Coulthard points his finger at the FIA for how this era started out.

“The new regs came at us with drivers and engineers going, ‘This is not going to be good.’ Pretty much silence from everyone else,” said Coulthard on the Up To Speed podcast.

“We get to Melbourne and we go, ‘Ah, they have deceleration as they go towards certain corners.’

“Now, the comeback from that disappointment, I’ve got to say, from Miami onwards, has been good. The fact that we’ve had five different winners in the last five Grand Prixs is testament to a varied season.

“But I feel that we saw this coming and nobody really was listening, and the fact they had to react to the reality, in a sport that simulates the hell out of the future, was a bit disappointing.

“That has to fall really with the FIA.

“I know they’ll get sensitive and go, ‘Well, we are a small group of people, and the Formula 1 teams have hundreds of people,’ but all of the evidence was there that having 50/50 on electrical and battery was going to be challenging.

“And what are we doing going forward? We’re going to have more internal combustion next year, and suggested even more the year after. To see the obvious and then react is a bit disappointing.”

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Coulthard added: “The new regs were a bit like the half-time show at the World Cup. It was a bit of a disappointment.”

Coulthard is referencing the entertainment event which took place during the extended half-time interval of the 2026 FIFA World Cup final. It featured the likes of Madonna, Shakira, BTS and Justin Bieber.

Coulthard did though reiterate that the “comeback has been good” from the F1 2026 starting point.

The FIA has moved to defend itself from criticism such as Coulthard’s.

Tombazis told The Race that the FIA “did anticipate a lot of these things” that the drivers have complained about “in the two years before the launch of the season.”

The FIA “did try to make some adjustments,” according to Tombazis, but “we failed with the governance that was in place.”

The FIA needed “at least four” of the five power unit manufacturers to agree on its desired changes.

“Quite simply, four of them did not agree during the years when we discussed adjustments,” Tombazis concluded.

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