The Mercedes team is struggling to fully understand Formula 1’s 2026 regulations. Although the FIA is clearly trying to support the teams as much as possible, the lack of precise feedback is giving the engineers in Brackley a serious headache. This is essentially the message coming from Andrew Shovlin, who spoke openly about the upcoming regulatory cycle.
The Formula 1 revolution is already here
In just four months, the new 2026-spec Formula 1 cars will finally be revealed, with the first shakedown scheduled in Barcelona at the end of January. It will be a four-day session, from January 26 to 30, behind closed doors to address any teething issues. Even if that date still seems far away, in reality car production has already entered its most delicate phase.
Meanwhile, teams are trying to predict the performance levels they will achieve on track during winter testing. The scale of the regulatory changes is unprecedented in modern F1: not only will aerodynamic and chassis rules change, but the power unit has also been completely redesigned, with an almost 50/50 split between electric power and the internal combustion engine.
Formula 1 is therefore preparing for a historic leap forward. The new cars will need to adapt to radically different hybrid power units, more efficient and with a much greater share of electric power compared to the current V6 hybrids. For the teams, this means facing a genuine technical puzzle, with choices that must already be consistent today, even though the official debut will only take place in early 2026.
Simulator development according to Shovlin
All the teams have now shifted their focus to the 2026 project. However, as the deadline approaches, the race to develop aerodynamics continues: the targets keep evolving, and technical departments are forced to chase moving goals. Work in the simulators revolves around virtual cars, with engineers trying to estimate the level of aerodynamic load that will be achieved in four months’ time.
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin explained that simulator performance figures change week by week, precisely because the virtual car is constantly evolving. He said the main objective is to optimize the chassis and engine package in a context that resembles a moving target. The key is to avoid wasting time on solutions that will never make it to the track.
Instead, the focus is on realistic configurations, representative of what will actually be taken to winter testing. The 2026 regulations introduce not only new power units but also fundamental changes to car design. Chassis will move away from ground effect to adopt active aerodynamics, while Pirelli will introduce narrower tyres. Minimum weight will drop to 768 kilograms.
That will be a tough target given the increased mass caused by larger batteries. Formula 1 will also adopt fully sustainable fuels, while the precise methods of using electric energy are still to be finalized. This latter aspect is crucial, as it will determine how effectively the cars will be able to race each other without artificial restrictions or excessive differences between setups.
Pirelli and the strategic game
According to Shovlin, even Pirelli has been drawn into a kind of psychological game by the teams. Car manufacturers are providing very different data regarding the aerodynamic loads expected at the end of straights, information that is essential to define the structure and compounds of the new tyres. However, it is clear that each team is playing its cards strategically: some downplay their real progress to avoid revealing too much, others supply figures based on future targets, while others still report current values.
The result is that the Italian tyre supplier is receiving conflicting information and still does not have a clear picture of what the actual loads will be on track. The truth will only emerge when the cars are revealed and run for the first time. It is undoubtedly a very complicated situation for the company from Bicocca, which is nonetheless doing an outstanding job of preparing tyres suited to the new era.
Performance differences expected to be limited
Despite the uncertainties, such as the matter of automatic activation of active aerodynamics, Shovlin believes that performance gaps between teams will not be excessively large at the 2026 debut. He pointed out that with the current regulations, the initial outlook also seemed rigid, but it was later discovered that there was still space for innovation in the finer details.
The British engineer added that it will be possible to distinguish the cars easily from one another, even if they were painted the same color, but certain areas will inevitably remain similar because the regulations do not allow much freedom. Over time, however, small differences will emerge as teams exploit every permitted zone. Development capacity will be more decisive than ever.
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