The FIA’s single Seater Director Nikolas Tombazis is “confident” that if changes are needed to the 2026 Formula power unit regulations, the respective manufacturers will collaborate effectively to bring about said change.
Talk of changing the power unit regulations has come after concerns voiced by the likes of McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella following the announcement of draft chassis and aero regulations for 2026 last week.
The power unit regs were defined in 2026, focusing on increased hybridisation and a 50/50 power split between internal combustion and electrification.
After Stella argued that “from a power unit point of view, likewise from a chassis point of view, it’s time that all parties understand that they need to contribute to the success of the sport,” Tombazis said change isn’t impossible.
“Well, there’s a slight different position in terms of governance in the power unit because we are already under governance agreement in relation to the power unit regulations, which means that any tweaks that may be necessary will still need to be agreed with the power unit manufacturers and cannot be done, let’s say, unilaterally,” said Tombazis.
“But because there’s, generally speaking, a very good spirit of collaboration, if there are some tweaks needed, I’m quite confident the PU manufacturers would help and be collaborative here.”
The draft aero regulations feature movable aerodynamics on the front and rear wings of the cars to enable a low-drag configuration down the straights, thus relieving some of the pressure on the hybrid power units.
“I still think that the way in which the power units are planned to be used needs to be adjusted,” said Stella when voicing his concerns.
“We can still achieve a 50-50 concept, which is a nice concept, but it can be achieved in a way that doesn’t put so much of a requirement on the chassis side, which is difficult to meet.”
Stella’s concerns point toward the disparity between how the engine and aero regulations have been defined.
The two-year gap between the engine regulations being written, which are widely believed to have been a ploy to get the likes of Audi invested in F1, and the draft aerodynamic regulations means the latter has to compensate the former.
Given the debate surrounding the 2026 regulations, Tombazis spoke on the benefit of hindsight.
“I think there’s very few things in my life I would have not changed in one way or another if I had more time,” he said.
“So yes, there are things we would have had more time to discuss as always. You have to act against time and so on.
“Would it have been drastically different to where we have it? I don’t think so.
“I think we have to stress the fact that we have much bigger participation of PU manufacturers than before. I think that’s something to be proud of.”
