TOAside from the doubts of the drivers, the excessive speed or the teams’ difficulties in finishing the cars, Fernando Alonso, the oldest driver on the grid, and in the history of F1, has given a first look at the changes in F1 in 2026, which is his seventh regulation/car change in almost a quarter of a century in the Great Circus.
“From the driver’s point of view, we want a closer competition. Multiple race winners, opportunities for everyone, there is no three or four year dominance for one or two drivers to win. “It’s what F1 is missing, the rest is fantastic,” Gilles Villeneuve said at the circuit.
What has caught the most attention, that attacking or defensive configuration from the wheel, is what has caught his attention the most. “It seems complicated, although we will only work with the steering wheel and press different buttons. With technology and the current high complexity of cars, it does not seem that it will be less in 2026. The engine is very ambitious in terms of objectives, and the aerodynamic devices that are changed on the straights perhaps have to compensate for overly ambitious objectives for the engines“.
Likewise, the great difficulty of reducing the weight of the car by 30 kilos when the batteries increase worries the Asturian: “It is impossible to subtract 30 kilos, if the power unit has a 50% electrical part. With the batteries necessary to support that, the car will weigh 30 kilos more. If you want to lose 30, you need to lose 60 kilos. There are two years to achieve it and what seems impossible now will be realistic in two years,” he adds, writing a check of confidence.
“In any case I think everything should be simpler, pure racing and that is in the hands of the driver and the team, a specific ‘set-up’ or a specific track. Before there was more freedom in the design of F1s, there were six-wheeled cars. Just like when we had Michelin and Bridgestone, for example 2005 was a difficult year for Bridgestone, but then it rained and the Bridgestones were always ahead. I liked that kind of freedom, but it’s a personal opinion and everyone will have their own. “I will adapt, the most important thing is to have the fastest car.”
