F1 bosses in key 2026 rules meeting to discuss potential changes ahead of sport's return at Miami Grand Prix
Team principals and chief executives meeting with FIA and F1 on Monday with aim of agreeing final proposals for tweaks around energy management rules ahead of the season's resumption at the Miami Grand Prix next week; Mercedes' Toto Wolff urges careful approach to changes
Monday 20 April 2026 13:30, UK
Formula 1's key stakeholders are meeting on Monday with the aim of deciding on what potential tweaks to make to the regulations after a series of discussions across the sport in recent weeks.
Discussions about the early impact of F1's all-new 2026 chassis and engine regulations - which notably include a near-50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power - were always planned after the season's opening races.
They were brought under renewed focus after last month's Japanese Grand Prix when there was fresh driver criticism of energy-management requirements during qualifying at Suzuka and then a big crash for Oliver Bearman in the race amid a significant speed differential with the car he was following.
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A series of meetings have taken place since then, during F1's enforced April break, to discuss what potential alterations could be made to energy management in particular, with the FIA and F1 involved in discussions with technical figures from teams and engine manufacturers, while there have also been talks with the sport's drivers.
Monday's meeting features stakeholders from F1, the FIA, teams and engine manufactures and is set to agree what plans are put forward for final approval to a World Motor Sport Council e-vote.
The F1 season resumes at the Miami Grand Prix next week.
In a social media post ahead of Monday's meeting, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said talks on the matter had hitherto proved "constructive and collaborative".
He also thanked drivers for providing "invaluable input on adjustments which they feel should be made, particularly in the areas of energy management to ensure safe, fair and competitive racing".
Wolff: Act with a scalpel not a baseball bat
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has warned that the approach to altering the rules should be made with "a scalpel and not with a baseball bat".
Speaking to the media on Monday morning ahead of the key meeting, the Austrian said: "I must really say that the discussions that have been taking place between the group of drivers, the FIA, Formula 1, and the teams have been constructive, and we all share the same objectives.
"It's how can we improve the product, make it out-and-out racing, and look at what can we improve in terms of safety, but act with a scalpel and not with a baseball bat. So, I think we're coming to good solutions that we're going to ratify hopefully today, in order to evolve, because we're only three races in.
"And, in a way, we need to learn from the past, where sometimes decisions were made in an erratic way, and then we overshot and realised it wasn't good, because we are custodians of this sport. And in that respect, I'm carefully optimistic that we're going to improve the racing whilst we align the aforementioned objectives, whilst keeping the racing really good."
'We shouldn't badmouth in public our own sport' - Wolff rebukes critics
Since the start of pre-season testing, numerous drivers have voiced complaints or concerns about aspects of the rules and the way they are now having to drive, while there has been ongoing debate about whether teams would let competitive rivalry get in the way of discussions over regulation changes.
But Wolff, whose Mercedes outfit have dominated the start of the new era, said that in their collective role as "guardians of the sport" it was important that the sport's key figures neither "badmouthed" F1 publicly nor let "gamesmanship" influence the decision-making process.
"The drivers, the FIA, Formula 1 and the teams, we need to understand our responsibility as the guardians of this sport," said Wolff
"And we need to respect what the sport has done for us and work constructively among ourselves to improve where things need to be improved and safeguard when it's needed. And we all have our opinions and that's absolutely legit.
"But these opinions and discussions should happen among the stakeholders more than in the public eye because the sport is in a great place.
"We have many hundreds of thousands of fans that love the sport. There are others that don't love certain aspects of the sport. But in order to protect all of this huge opportunity that the sport gives us, we shouldn't badmouth in public our own sport.
"And we've been all falling foul to this in the past because of gamesmanship or because of trying to protect a situation or improve a regulatory situation. But we need to be very careful because the things we say in public, they may not have an immediate repercussion on how the fans perceive the sport. But that comes with a lag. And that is the responsibility we have. Of course everybody is entitled to have an opinion.
"But I think we owe it to ourselves to express that opinion in the stakeholder groups. Now this has happened in the last few weeks in a constructive way. We have set our objectives in the way that we want to improve where we believe it improves."
What do the drivers want to see change?
Speaking last week about the alterations drivers wanted to see, Mercedes' George Russell, who is also a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, said: "I think the two headline points are flat-out qualifying, so no lift and coast, and then reducing the closing speeds.
"The closing speed of the Bearman-Colapinto crash was twofold. One, of course Bearman was on his boost button and giving himself 350kW, so he had an abundance of power in an abnormal part of the track. And, on the flip side, Colapinto used his boost on the main straight the half a lap before, and was low on his battery, so he had a lack of power.
"So that is, at least in my eyes, where these closing speed differences are coming from and I think the FIA are definitely very much aware of that. From the drivers' perspective, just looking to reduce that closing speed in abnormal areas, and especially in non-SM [Straight Mode]. If there's a straight that isn't an SM mode, that means it's because it's a corner and of course the Bearman crash was in a non-SM part of the track. So I think we're all aligned on those points."
And while aware there will need to be an element of "compromise" on what is changed given the cars are currently set up to deliver the quickest lap times, Russell believes there are some obvious improvements that can be made in the short term - such as increasing the permitted rate the battery can harvest when a driver is on full throttle, known as 'super clipping'.
"There's a lot of low-hanging fruit," added Russell. "For example, the minus 350 kilowatts super clip is a no-brainer, and that already in itself is going to avoid a lot of lift-and-coast, having the minus 350 kilowatt super clip.
"And there's other small parts of the regulation that say you can only de-rate the engine at a certain rate. So on a very short straight, there isn't enough time to go from 350 kilowatts to a super clip because the straight is too short. Some small changes around these regulations will have a major improvement for the overall driving experience."
Russell added: "I think the FIA have been in a lot of comms with a handful of drivers, and that's been sort of collective.
"And at least from the FIA technical standpoint, it's probably the closest relationship we've had with them in numerous years. So that's very positive to see."
Formula 1 returns on May 1-3 with the Miami Grand Prix, the season's second Sprint weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
