F1 drivers share thoughts on end of the regulations era which started in 2022 and saw through three seasons, ahead of a big change in 2026.
After the dominance of Mercedes from 2014 onward, the FIA got a mini regulation change for 2022 ahead of a big one from 2026 onward. The engine formula remained the same in the short era, but there were changes to the car which did not see a good start back in the day.
The term ‘porpoising’ came to light after testing in Bahrain spotted heavy bouncing. It continued on for several races, much to the discomfort to drivers. The FIA ultimately put in a limiter which was improvement, but bouncing continued on until 2025 at certain moments.
Even though the cars were extremely fast, the bouncing caused back pain to F1 drivers, which wasn’t enjoyable. Towards the end of the era, the dirty air issues returned and made it difficult to follow and overtake unless there was DRS and or significant difference.
With 2026 not far off, F1 drivers were mixed about the era that went by, especially the power unit formula which came in from 2014 onward. Some of them managed to excel, but some faltered but in many ways not many were sad to see the end of one cycle.
Here’s what some of the F1 drivers said –
George Russell: “I think it’s been an extremely challenging set of regs, to be honest. And obviously, this second half of the year, Red Bull have been on a very high level. But if I were to answer that question at the summer break, I would have argued that we were at a similar level to Red Bull. And if you compare that to ’23 – Aston Martin were ahead of ourselves and Ferrari and dropped off, McLaren were nowhere and obviously just found something pretty spectacular. So, I can’t really answer that question – what it is we’ve missed. I think it’s probably more where we started.
“I think we probably started in the wrong place and led ourselves down the wrong path and then had to revert. And clearly Red Bull, out of the blocks, had the least amount of porpoising in ’22 and almost had a six- or eight-month head start on everybody while we were trying to work that out. So, I don’t think this regulation is really going to have any impact on the next set of regs, because the issues are going to be totally different.”
Charles Leclerc: “I think for us there’s not only one reason. There are many reasons which, at different times, played a role. In the beginning of ’22, we actually started off quite strongly, but we were struggling with porpoising, where Red Bull had a very stable platform. And they were actually quite a lot overweight, so as soon as they took off that weight, they were suddenly at the level where they’ve been since then. And then for last year, we focused very early on next year’s car, which I hope is a bet that will be a winning one.
“But for sure, it has some influence from the last two thirds of the season where we’ve been struggling more than others because we didn’t bring that many upgrades. But in general, it’s just been a generation of car that was very, very difficult to understand. And what worked back at the factory – I think everybody has been surprised once or more times that when you bring it on track, it doesn’t correlate exactly to what you were expecting from that part. And that was the challenge of it. And yeah, and other teams did better, especially McLaren and Red Bull.”
Lewis Hamilton: “Yeah, I think we’re all excited to see the back end of these ones for sure.”
Carlos Sainz: “I had a struggle with them in 2022 adapting to this generation, and I’ve had a bit more success later on adapting to it, but it’s not in my nature to drive these cars the way I have to drive them. I actually had to relearn a couple of different skills that I didn’t know I would need to drive a Formula 1 car. And I’m glad it’s over, and hopefully next year I can go back to a more natural driving style.”
Nico Hulkenberg: “I think a bit more neutral for me. I don’t mind it. I think just the following, particularly this year, has really become very, very bad. But otherwise—I mean, bit heavy, yes—but in quali, they’re pretty quick. So, I don’t mind it. Not really, to be honest I enjoyed these cars. Obviously this year following and therefore racing has become a little bit too difficult and too sensitive. That was a bit of a pity.
“But over the last few years of course they’ve been ground effect stiff. But to be honest I didn’t mind that. I think they’re very fast, very spectacular and dynamic, especially now in the last years, breaking a lot of lap time records. So, I mean we don’t know how you’re going to feel next year. I don’t know what you wish for but obviously we don’t know about that yet.”
Lance Stroll: “Well, I think, like, McLaren likes these cars now in his team. So, I mean, this is, for us, it’s been challenging the last couple of years. There’s no denying it. We had a competitive car in 2023 and then 2024, 2025, it’s been more difficult for us. That’s the truth. So, yeah, it’s not where we want to be, but next year, new opportunities. So, we’ll see. don’t think so. I think it’s been quite tough on the body and very stiff and, yeah. You’ve had a simulator-tasted upcoming car, I don’t think.”
Oliver Bearman: “Definitely the bouncing and the ride and the uncomfortableness of these cars. They are horrible, particularly coming from tracks like Las Vegas, Mexico, even Qatar a little bit. The stiffness that you have to run to achieve performance with these cars, means that you are getting out of the car and can’t sleep at night, because your back is hurting that much. So, I definitely won’t miss the lack of comfort of these cars. I’ve never experienced anything like that in a racing car, because I’ve never had bouncing or issues with focusing or any of that. That’s a horrible sensation and a horrible feeling when driving the car, because it’s really tough to predict as well when you’re driving.
“So, when you’re purely talking about performance. You can go from FP3 with a certain fuel load and a certain grip level and the car is absolutely fine and then you get to qualifying and suddenly you start bouncing and you lose an infinite amount of lap time, because the confidence drop is just exponential. So, I really hope the next year cars don’t bounce, especially if I want to have a long career in F1, because, let’s say if they continue like this. I don’t think many of us would see all those guys racing into their late 40s like Lewis and Fernando have.”
Pierre Gasly: “I think the one thing we haven’t really been too happy as drivers is just the amount of bouncing. Obviously, around the cars you need to run as slow as you can. But physically for our backs, I think we all agree that it’s been rough. It’s not sustainable over a full career. So I think that’s a good thing that they’ve moved away from it.
“Next year, as I’ve said, I think it will take some time. We need to be very open-minded on what we might see next year. But ultimately, what I want is to be fighting at the front of the field. Regardless of whatever type of racing we have, I just want to be at the front.”
Alexander Albon: “I’d say next year’s going to be more unnatural. In my head, it’s not that bad. I feel like the good things about these cars so far, we can still push it to 100%. Yes, there’s some elements where it’s easier to overdrive these cars than maybe the previous generation of cars, but I think all in all, it’s not been a bad regulation set. I think as the cars got better and better.
“The following and the overtaking got worse and worse, which is kind of what the whole point of the regulation change was, and unfortunately just Formula 1 technology and intuition beats some of the regulation ideas, let’s say. I haven’t mind it at all. I think maybe I had a different approach, because I saw it as an opportunity back into Formula 1 in 2022, so I kind of just thought, I’ll drive what I can get at that time.”
Here’s stats from Pirelli
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Here’s F1 2026 entry list
