Adrian Newey, widely regarded as one of Formula 1's greatest ever technical minds, has strongly criticized the sport's new regulations set for 2026.
The 65-year-old, recently signed by Aston Martin for 2025 and beyond, expressed his concerns about the upcoming rule changes, which will overhaul both the chassis and power unit designs.
"I can't remember the last time there were new rules for both the chassis and the power unit," Newey told DAZN. "The power unit rules were set some time ago, and there was no thought given at the time to the accompanying chassis rules. It's an issue the FIA and teams have had to deal with."
The 2026 regulations have come under scrutiny, particularly after simulations suggested that the new cars might run out of electrical power on the straights, potentially leading to embarrassingly slow speeds as the race progresses. "How will it work? It's not really clear," Newey admitted.
Recent F1 Commission meetings have led to further modifications to the 2026 rules, but Newey remains concerned. "There is still a lot of concern that the cars will be considerably slower at the end of the race in a straight line than at the beginning, because they will drain their battery."
The updated chassis rules, designed to compensate for these power unit issues, may create additional problems. "The most important thing for Formula 1 is the clean and original character of the cars," Newey said. "If the chassis regulations - which mainly concern aerodynamic rules - become too restrictive, all the cars will look the same."
Newey pointed to Indycar as a cautionary tale. In the mid-1990s, it was a strong competitor to F1 in terms of prominence, but overly restrictive chassis rules led to its decline. He worries that Formula 1 is at risk of following the same path.
For Newey, the focus on attracting manufacturers, such as Audi and Honda, is misguided. "Audi is coming in, Honda reversed its decision to leave," he acknowledged. "But for me, the value is in the teams, not the manufacturers. They come and go. They change CEOs, they suddenly decide they'd rather sponsor a tennis tournament than Formula 1, they go in a different direction. We've seen that regularly."
