18/06/2024
NEWS STORY
Insisting that it is too early to write them off, Adrian Newey believes that in drawing up the 2026 regulations the sport was influenced by "one or two" manufacturers.
The regulations for both the cars and engines have come in for widespread criticism, but in the case of the latter Newey believes the sport allowed itself to be influenced, particularly in terms of the proposed 50/50 split between ICE and electric generated power.
"It's certainly going to be a strange formula in as much as the engines will be working flat-chat as generators just about the whole time," he told Autosport. "So, the prospect of the engine working hard in the middle of Loews hairpin is going to take some getting used to.
"It is fair to say that the engine regulations were created and pushed through without very much thought to the chassis side of it," he added. "And that is now creating quite large problems in terms of trying to come up with a solution to work with it.
"I think the one good thing is that it does promote efficiency," he admitted. "And I think anything that does that, and promotes that, has to be in line with trying to use F1 to popularise a trend."
However, the design legend, who has yet to announce which team he will be working for when the new rules come into effect, believes the FIA, as opposed to seeking to create the best set of the rules for the benefit of the sport, allowed itself to be influenced by the manufacturers.
"The FIA appears to be heavily influenced by one or two manufacturers," he said, "in the hope they will appease those manufacturers but also perhaps attract others in.
"I suppose since Audi are coming in for 2026 there has been a partial success in this regard," he added, "but I'm not sure it's worth the overall compromise of what could be achieved.
"The reality is manufacturers come and go, with the exception of Ferrari. It's the teams that are core to the business and then of course the big actual core is the viewing public. So it's essential we provide a good show and as part of that variety is proven to be well rewarded," he said.
"At the moment, they look a slightly strange set of regulations," he admitted, "but to write them off and say therefore they won't be good, it's way too premature. There comes a point where always as a designer you first look at what they might be and you might then have an opinion 'are they good or are they bad' but at some point, you have to ignore that and just get on with the challenge of it."