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McLaren’s Oscar Piastri thinks the changes that F1 has made to the 2026 regulations are a “step in the right direction”, but he feels some “unexpected” quirks will emerge.
Formula 1 has announced a number of changes to the regulations that will come into effect from the Miami Grand Prix on May 1-3, following the early issues that materialised with the new engine formula this year. Many drivers have especially had issues with the power units.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris have been among the most vocal drivers in sharing their complaints about the new engines, after F1 increased the role of the battery to have a near 50/50 power split with the internal combustion engine (ICE) from the previous 20/80 split.
Such is his hatred of the new engine rules that Verstappen has threatened to retire from F1 at the end of this season, too. The four-time champion’s threat, along with Haas ace Oliver Bearman’s crash in Japan, put Formula 1 under a lot of pressure to modify the regulations.
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Oscar Piastri expects to see ‘quirks’ emerge but F1’s engine rule changes are a positive step
Team bosses, F1 and governing body the FIA voted through many changes to the regulations at an F1 Commission meeting this Monday. One change will see drivers no longer have to lift and coast as much in qualifying, as the amount of recharge has been cut from 8MJ to 7MJ.
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Drivers will also be less prone to super-clipping in qualifying, and will then be able to use the full 350kW (470bhp) of electrical power in the acceleration zones out of the corners during races. Also, F1 will test changes to the race start procedure in Miami to avoid slow launches.
McLaren ace Piastri believes the changes to the regulations that will come into effect at the Miami GP are a “step in the right direction” overall, particularly owing to the problems that emerged in Australia and Japan. But he predicts there will be “unexpected” consequences.
Piastri said, via Speedcafe: “I still need to go through all the details of all the rules, because I need someone smarter than me to explain what’s actually changed. But I think it’s a step in the right direction, for sure.
“The changes to the boost button, I think, there will still be some quirks and situations that are a bit unexpected, but it’s generally in the right direction. The harvest limit becoming a bit lower and having more flexibility is in the right direction.
“I think we’ll have to wait and see across a few different tracks. We went to China and we didn’t really have that many of these problems. But then you go to somewhere like Australia or Japan, and we have a completely different set of problems.
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“So, it will still chop and change a bit from circuit to circuit. But I think on the whole, it is in the right direction. How far it goes in addressing the problems? We’ll have to wait and see [when] we get on track.”
Bearman endured a 50G crash during the Japanese Grand Prix last time out, after he caught Alpine rival Franco Colapinto with a huge speed differential when approaching Spoon. Many drivers had feared a crash like Bearman’s would occur due to the difference in power levels.
Haas star Bearman was using his full 350kw of electrical power at the time that he crashed at Suzuka. But he would only have been allowed to use 250kw under the changes that will be introduced in Miami, as the run up to Spoon was not a designated straight-mode zone.
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