All-new F1 2026 terminology unveiled in closer look at new cars – round-up

Henry Valantine 17 Dec 2025 9:00 PM

Next season will bring all-new chassis and power unit regulations into Formula 1.

Even though it’s the off-season, it was still a busy day of F1 news as we look ahead to all-new regulations coming in a matter of weeks.

FOM and the FIA unveiled some significant announcements ahead of the new campaign, so let’s dive right in.

Say hello to ‘Overtake Mode’ and ‘Boost Mode’

FOM and the FIA revealed some updated terminology which will come into play next season, with ‘Overtake Mode’ set to be an indirect replacement for DRS.

While ‘Boost Mode’ will see drivers able to deploy extra battery power anywhere around a lap, ‘Overtake Mode’ will be in use in certain parts of the track where drivers are within one second of the car ahead.

‘Active Aero’ will also play a key part next season, which gives both the front and rear wing the ability to move to certain angles to help with cornering or in a straight line.

Take a closer look at F1 2026 machinery

Along with the new terminology, both FOM and the FIA released all-new renders of the F1 2026 cars from all different angles, giving us a clearer view of what next year’s cars may look like.

We have compiled some of the best photos into a gallery, so you can have a look at what next year may hold – and how much, when the cars are launched, they may deviate from this.

Mercedes shows off 12 years of hard work

Having won at least one World Championship in 10 of the 12 years of the now-bygone turbo-hybrid era, Mercedes pulled the covers off years’ worth of its power units at Brixworth, as the team celebrated its achievements.

Reserve driver Fred Vesti was on hand to perform donuts in both the 2014 car, the W05, and its 2025 challenger, the W16, to bookend what has been an incredibly successful era for Mercedes power.

There is more to come next season, but it is rare to see a line-up of title-winning engines alongside one another.

McLaren hope to be ‘proven correct’ in development strategy

McLaren’s engineering technical director, Neil Houldey, explained the team’s approach to upgrades (or lack thereof) in 2025 came down to wanting to pursue more 2026 development, in what was the opposite approach to Red Bull.

He hopes that will prove to be the right approach, with other teams having stopped development at different times in the year.

“We were looking for milliseconds,” Houldey told PlanetF1.com and others in Abu Dhabi. “Thirty milliseconds was a good upgrade at that point, the whole car was going to give us 0.1 of a second.

“So when you get to that sort of level, and you’re gaining that sort of time in weeks developing the ’26 [car], it was clear for us at the time.

“Other teams have continued their [2025] development. Certainly, Red Bull have made some great gains towards the end of the year.

“I still think we’ve made the right decision, and when we go into 2026, hopefully that’ll be proven correct.”

Haas and Toyota’s new relationship clarified

Toyota Gazoo Racing will be taking on title sponsorship of Haas from next season, but team principal Ayao Komatsu clarified this is not a step towards becoming a Toyota factory team.

He told PlanetF1.com and others: “Toyota’s objective is not really branding; Toyota’s objective is to make us competitive, grow people, and make this team competitive together.

“So, if we accelerate that, then obviously having a title partnership means the next step.

“But, in terms of what we’re doing, it’s not like the direction changes, a step change, if you like, it’s exactly going the same direction, but it’s really nice that now we’ve got this title partnership.

“It’s been a long-term collaboration from the beginning anyway, but mainly externally, it gives people confidence, even internally as well.”

Mercedes FIA