F1 is back in 2026 and all the cars are wearing a new look.

But it’s more than just a new paint job on display at the Melbourne Grand Prix.

Former Renault engineer Chris Papadopoulos says this year will see one of the biggest regulation changes since the sport began.

“Tires, aerodynamics, vehicle dimensions, engine rules…basically, almost everything about the car is changing,” he says.

The car will be louder, slower in corners, and harder to handle, but it will be more sustainable for the planet than previous designs.

Racing teams predict these adjustments could inject a healthy amount of “unpredictability and confusion” into the first race of the season.

So let’s take a look ‘inside’ the science of F1 cars.

F1 car basics

To understand the changes, it’s important to understand the basics of how F1 cars work.

Mercedes F1 team boss Bradley Lord says F1 cars are essentially “the lightest, fastest, strongest and most powerful road-legal vehicles you can build”.

F1 cars can reach speeds of over 350 kilometers per hour and look similar to four-wheeled fighter jets.

These still share some similarities with road cars, including a power unit that uses both a battery and a fuel-powered internal combustion engine, similar to hybrid cars.

However, the body of an F1 car also has more prominent features, such as front and rear wings, sidepods, and a diffuser (ramp-like rear section).

These elements, especially the car’s wings and floor, work together to keep the car stuck to the track instead of flying off like an airplane at high speeds.

This is managed by two important forces: drag and downforce.

Cars are streamlined to go faster and to limit the amount of drag (air pushing against the car) on straight sections of the track.

In corners, you can increase drag and downforce (the force of air pushing the car to the ground) to give your tires more grip.

The shape, size, temperature and weight of every component in a car is set by the governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).

These technical rules primarily tell teams what they can’t do. That is, the car and its engine cannot be larger than a certain size, and the wings cannot move in a certain way.

Papadopoulos, who is now managing director of Australian racing team Volante Rosso, said designing a Formula 1 car is an evolving arms race, with teams trying to find the best engineering solution to regulations.

louder sound experience

One of the first things audiences will notice this year is that the machines sound different.

“They’re a little noisy, I would say a little throaty. A little more growl,” Lord says.

This is because the thermal motor generator unit, a heavy and complex component that acts like a car silencer, is gone.

Even if volumes increase, the car could become quiet again as the team continues to develop it.

Papadopoulos says this is because engineers have found new ways to use energy more efficiently.

focus on sustainability

Just because cars are noisier doesn’t mean they’re bad for the environment.

F1 wants to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, and for the first time cars will use energy equally from batteries and V6 engines.

Teams must use synthetic fuel again this year Lower carbon emission rates over the lifespan.

Lord said Mercedes’ fuel development will take a long time, with the design phase starting in 2022 with the engine.

”[The new fuel] “Compared to the 10 percent ethanol fuel we were using last year, we can achieve approximately 65 percent greenhouse gas emissions reductions,” he says.

New regulations allow batteries to be about three times larger.

Batteries in F1 cars can be recharged by the movement of the rear wheels when the brakes are applied.

“You can use the motor as a power generation unit to charge the battery and reuse that energy during acceleration,” says Papadopoulos.

However, regulations limit the amount of energy that can be recovered during a lap, so teams cannot run their batteries to full capacity every lap.

“So it adds a kind of high-speed chess element to the way drivers compete on the track,” Lord said.

Car still fast but lap times expected to be slower

Lap times may be slightly slower this year as design constraints reduce downforce and drivers brake more to restore battery energy.

”[But] In terms of pure acceleration, they are faster. “It’s incredibly impressive to see them come out of the corner at full power,” Lord said.

The larger battery capacity allows the vehicle to accelerate faster on straights and allows the driver to release more energy.

However, the car’s downforce will be reduced by 30% compared to last year.

This means you need to go slower in corners to avoid losing grip and sliding.

Lord said the car now “slides a little bit more in the corners” and appears to be “more fun and entertaining for the driver.”

Why is it difficult to control a car?

Former Williams engineer Sammy Diasinos said one of the biggest changes contributing to the lack of downforce was the shape of the car’s floor.

“The floor has to be much simpler, whereas previous generations of cars had very complex floors that were carefully contoured very close to the ground to create a lot of downforce,” he says.

This year, the car is higher off the ground, forcing more air under the car and increasing downforce.

As a result, they won’t be slamming into the ground like they have for the past four years, Lord said.

Dr Diasinos, now a lecturer at Macquarie University, said this was a well-known problem with the last set of cars.

“A lot of drivers who were in previous generation cars complained about how uncomfortable it was,” he says.

The previous system that contributed to downforce generation has been removed in favor of ‘active aerodynamics’, where both the front and rear wings move.

These cars have a straight-line mode that limits drag at the push of a button, opening both the front and rear wings to create clearance.

Corner mode also automatically engages when the brakes are applied, increasing downforce and grip when the wings close.

A bit of “chaos” expected at Melbourne GP

Lord said he is unsure how the teams will perform against each other heading into the new season.

“Simply because we’re all still learning and the learning curve is very high. So it’s going to be very exciting.”