Nikolas Topazis’ new changes to the 2026 cars – They will be just as fast as this year’s

A consequence of the decision by the FIA ​​and F1 to change the power units of the Formula 1 cars for 2026 is the increase in their electric power – which will now be almost equal to the power produced by the V6 Turbo thermal engine.

An increase in electricity, however, also means an increase in weight due to the larger battery. And so, the immediate conclusion based on the increase in weight, is that next season’s F1 cars will be several seconds slower per lap than today’s.

And the crown of motorsport, according to many, should not have cars slower than today’s. For this purpose, from June when he presented the first technical plans of 2026 until today, Nikolas Tombazis made a series of changes that contribute to increasing the performance of the cars.

These changes, which were presented by the Greek aerodynamicist to the FIA ​​F1 Commission and then to the World Motorsport Council this month, include a number of modifications, such as increasing their aerodynamic performance (lift generation / vertical force).

They also give the team’s designers more freedom in the areas of the front wing, wheel covers, side vents and diffuser, while research continues into the bodywork inside the rear wheels.

The modifications, claims Nikolas Topazis, were made to get the cars of 2026 approximately the same speed as this year’s cars. In any case, on a typical track they will be less than a second a lap slower than the current ones, and as they evolve from the teams over time their performance will even out.

Topazis explained that after the presentation of the first plans of 2026 in June “ugot an increase in the performance of the car by about 50 degrees of boost. This improved lift output from around minus 40% over today’s cars to around minus 15%.

As a result, the lap times of the cars (of 2026) are very close to those of today. All this happened as we promised in June. If we hadn’t made any changes after June, I imagine it would have been almost two seconds slower (in the lap).”he added.

And then he explained exactly where the modifications are located: “The basic ones changes in aerodynamics they slightly increased the dimensions in which the front wing is located, which will be in the style of the previous one.

We’ve added a bit more room for components in front of the front of the floor, such as on the side wings (ie: next to the driver’s cockpit). We’ve increased the size of the diffuser, which now starts a little further forward and is a little bigger.

We’ve redesigned some of the bodywork around the front wheels, and our work continues with the hope that some final tweaks will be made at the next (Motorsport) World Council on the rear of the bodywork and how it interacts with the diffuser.”

The solution to the ground clearance problem

Ever since F1 moved into the modern era of ground effect, i.e. from 2022, the problem of adjusting the height from the ground has been an intractable puzzle for designers and engineers.

Teams need to set the floor as close to the ground as possible to improve the car’s aerodynamics, but even in the third year of the regulations there is no shortage of problems with porpoising at high speeds and very fast corners.

The FIA ​​has taken a series of measures for 2026 in order to solve this problem. Venturi channels in the floor will be less powerful and an aerodynamic device at the front of the floor will direct the air passing under it differently.

So engineers won’t have to set the floor so low and so close to the ground to get the best aerodynamic performance.

“The phenomenon Venturi it will be much smaller compared to the current generation. The main reason is that we wanted cars that wouldn’t set up as close to the ground than the current ones, so we’ll try to loosen up the aero a little bit.”emphasized Topazis.