Revealed: Why F1 2026 will reward the smartest drivers as ‘extreme’ Formula E comparison made

Alex Albon has joked that the smartest Formula 1 drivers who can “abuse the system” will adapt best to the revolutionary F1 2026 rules.

Formula 1 will introduce vastly different regulations next year, with increased electrification of the hybrid power unit systems being the primary change around which the rest of the rules have been written.

Alex Albon: F1 2026 rules will be mentally taxing for drivers

With the chassis and aerodynamic regulations being written in response to the change of power unit formula, F1 will introduce active aerodynamics and move away from the ground-effect rules, which have been in place since 2022.

While lap times aren’t expected to drop away by much compared to the current cars, the very different handling characteristics and the way the power units deploy their energy mean that many of the drivers who have tested the early iterations of the cars in their respective team simulators have been less than enthusiastic about their handling.

However, it is worth pointing out that, at this early stage in the new rules cycle, there are huge early gains to be made. Early simulation models might be clumsy and unrefined, and will evolve significantly by the time racing begins in March 2026.

The significant changes in downforce levels and drag, coupled with the changes in energy management as the power units become an equal split between the internal combustion engine and their hybrid ancillaries, mean the drivers will find the cars mentally challenging to drive next year, believes Williams‘ Alex Albon.

The Williams driver spoke at length about what he’s felt in the simulator, revealing that the power unit management is the main challenge he’s identified.

“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.

“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.”

However, the need for drivers to maintain focus and concentration means there will be an advantage for drivers who have spare mental capacity while on track.

“I’m not moaning. I’m just saying it’s different. Like it’s really different to drive,” he said.

“The drivers that are really going to go well on this are the ones that can be really adaptable.

“You’re gonna have to have a very open-minded approach to how to drive these cars, and I believe that the drivers who have the capacity to drive and understand how to drive them.

“Even these cars now, we are driving them flat out.

“You have a bit of PU clipping and all these kinds of things, but for next year it’s going to be a bit more of a complete package as to how you get to that.

“We’re still going through a lot of the simulator, working closely with HPP (Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains) and all these kinds of people to understand what the most efficient way to do it.

“Obviously, Formula 1 and the regulations also want the drivers to have no assistance on a lot of these things. There is a lot that the driver has to do.

“I don’t think it will always just purely be around how good the driver is around the corner, let’s say, like a driver who’s quite smart and can understand the system and abuse the system, understand how it works, and become efficient on it, they’re going to find performance in that as well. Much more than now.”

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Formula E ‘more extreme’ in energy management

The increased electrification of Formula 1’s power units obviously moves F1 closer to the all-electric racing series Formula E, which demands intense energy management skills from its drivers to ensure maximum efficiency while unlocking as much speed as possible.

Lift and coast, for example, is used to much greater extremes in Formula E than in F1, but Albon doubts the different skillset required to be successful in Formula E won’t become an automatic requirement in F1 as well; nor will vastly different driving styles.

“In the end, I just want good racing,” he said.

“We all just want good racing. I’m not sure the speeds of the cars or the way that they’re driven is going to change too much.

“I don’t think it’s become kind of Formula E style where, you know, you’re getting these massive lift and coast sessions and all these kinds of things.

“But I don’t think it will change too much.

“It’s really early days at the moment, but just look at Formula E as a more extreme version of where we’re going to go to.

“But you can see how the drivers manipulate the race and qualifying and how they deploy, and all these kinds of things to gain performance.

“It’s not going to be at that extreme, but there will be an element of the drivers who have the brain capacity to understand and facilitate all these demands will go well.

“We will get used to it. That’s the job of the driver, but it is going to take some getting used to.”

All of the changes, Albon pointed out, mean that the usual off-season won’t be quite as relaxing for the drivers heading into next year.

“Our winter breaks that we spend, I don’t think it will be spent as casually as it was in the previous few years, where we’re training, and they’re like nothing,” he smiled.

“I think it’s gonna be so much more attention on simulator work that we’re going to be doing over the winter, and making sure that we understand how it all works, and trying different driving styles and things to make it work.

“At Williams, we have an active working group that we’re just working on how we can prepare the drivers as best as we can, giving us as much information and as much preparation as possible for next year.”

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