2026 F1 cars will clock 400 kph, says Toto Wolff
The cars of the 2026 F1 will be shorter, narrower, lighter and will have active aerodynamic elements, with the 1.6-litre V6 power going down from 560 kW to 400 kW. The power output from the hybrid system will increase to 350 kW from 120 kW.
New Delhi: Toto Wolff and other team principals have been talking about their concerns over the 2026 power units over the past year. The FIA and F1 meeting earlier this year gave a green light for the new power units. Mercedes boss has now given a teaser into how the 2026 F1 cars will perform.
F1 are going to introduce new regulations that will come into action for the 2026 season, which will see the introduction of a new power unit, chassis and even aerodynamic approach. The cars will be shorter, narrower, lighter and will have active aerodynamic elements. Even though the total power output remains mostly under the current regulations, the split between the electric motors and internal combustion engines is much different.
How will the 2026 F1 cars perform?
The new power units will feature the current setup of a 1.6-litre V6 turbo engine. However, the power from the ICE will be much reduced as the battery pack dependency will increase. The power from the ICE in 2026 will go down from 560 kW to 400 kW. The power output from the hybrid system will increase to 350 kW from 120 kW.
The new cars also do not have the DRS (drag reduction system), which is basically a flag in the rear wing in order to reduce drag for an increase in top speed on the straights. However, the cars will feature active aerodynamic elements on the front and rear wings, which will change the elements depending on the type of mode in use.
The Z-mode will be the standard where the wing elements will be at a lot steeper angle, which will make much more downforce. However, the X-mode will be activated on the straight, making the elements at a much shallower angle and receive the drag and increase the top speed.
Wolff recently gave the details about the effect of the new power unit and aerodynamics while talking about the full potential of the 2026 cars to AMuS. The top boss said that based on the simulation, when the full power is deployed, the cars will be clocking 400 kph. At present, the highest speed notched in an F1 car is 378 kph, which is a record held by Valtteri Bottas, who set it in the 2016 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.