James Vowles issues ‘sensible’ verdict on FIA’s 2026 rule changes for the Miami Grand Prix

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Formula 1 and the FIA have agreed to make multiple changes to the 2026 regulations ahead of racing’s return at the Miami Grand Prix. Williams boss James Vowles is pleased with the new rules.

The 2026 F1 regulations have caused major controversy this season, with many criticising the ‘artificial’ racing due to the need to recharge the battery. More alarmingly, it has caused safety concerns, with Ollie Bearman suffering a 50G crash at Suzuka.

Many drivers and team bosses expressed concern about the sudden closing speeds as a car harvests the battery ahead of another that is boosting. Franco Colapinto almost slammed into Liam Lawson on the grid in Melbourne after the latter could not get a good launch off the line.

Martin Brundle said safety is the FIA’s ‘fourth’ priority after Bearman’s crash in Japan, with the accident sparking further calls for rule changes.

Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, the FIA and the team bosses have come together to work on a way to improve the regulations, without completely resetting them or giving a team an advantage.

James Vowles says FIA and F1 have done ‘good work’ to make ‘sensible’ 2026 rule changes

The biggest areas of concern were with super-clipping during qualifying, closing speeds during races and the dangers of a car getting a poor launch off the grid. The FIA have got all of that covered with the latest changes.

In qualifying, the amount of energy recharge has been reduced to 7 MJ, and the amount of power recovered at full throttle has been increased to 350kW, thus limiting the time spent ‘super-clipping’.

F1 has also tried to limit the closing speeds during races, and will test a new start procedure that will detect if a car does not get enough acceleration off the line. If that happens, the MGU-K can produce more speed to prevent it from hindering the cars behind.

Should F1 make small tweaks to the rules, rather than major changes?

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No one will know what these changes will bring to F1 until they are seen in action in Miami, but Williams team principal Vowles thinks they are a step in the right direction.

He wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “These are sensible changes and the teams, FIA and Formula 1 have done good work over the past few weeks to agree them.

“F1 has seen some great racing so far this year but it is right that we always look at ways to keep improving. We look forward to seeing them in action from Miami onwards.”

READ MORE: Who is James Vowles? All you need to know about Williams’ team principal

Toto Wolff hopes to see improved racing under new 2026 rules for Miami Grand Prix

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff echoes Vowles’ sentiments, in that he hopes racing action will be improved under the new rules.

He said, via quotes from BBC Sport: “I am carefully optimistic that we’re going to improve the racing, while keeping the racing really good.

“If you have aligned objectives, and you define those objectives at the beginning, and that is, how can we work on making qualifying more spectacular, enjoyable for the drivers?

“How can we tackle safety objectives? And at the same time, protect what’s really good within the racing, the overtaking. And that’s why those steps look like they are in the right direction.

“Not overshooting, not undershooting, but if you come to the conclusion further down the line, that we need to maybe redefine the objectives, then so be it. But at the moment, I think that’s carved out in a pretty clear way, and that’s good.”