Jock Clear: “2026 will not be a replay of 2014, FIA has taken precautions with concessions for engine manufacturers who will be at a disadvantage”

The revolution is now upon us F1 is preparing to experience the greatest regulatory revolution ever to occur in the history of the top automotive formula and there is great anticipation in seeing the new cars in action which will be different from those that characterized the technical cycle which began in 2022 and concluded in 2025. The ground effect era has put the teams faced with various challenges, but the ‘arms race’ did not concern the power units because the engines have remained practically frozen since the end 2022 to 2025. In 2026, however, the power units will be a decisive factor in determining the balance of power on the track and for this reason the FIA has studied a regulation – the ADUO – to allow engine engineers who find themselves in difficulty to catch up with those who will start off on the right foot straight away. Former Ferrari Jock Clear is enthusiastic about this new technical cycle and does not believe that it will be possible to repeat what already happened in 2014 when Mercedes and in general all the Mercedes-powered teams exploited the supremacy of the power unit created in Brixworth to dominate or experience a season above expectations. “Next year will be exciting for several reasons – said Clear reached by CasinoHawks – I hope that in 2026 the title will be awarded at the last race, the three-way fight between Norris, Piastri and Verstappen in Abu Dhabi was fantastic. In 2014 it certainly didn’t go like this and from my point of view I think that what happened in that season influenced the attitude of the fans towards these new rules as if it were a given that we will go towards a replay of 2014. I don’t think so that it will be like this, because I think the systems that have been designed to manage the performance differences between the power units are actually very good and should allow the teams to react, we are talking about it and we have been talking about it for the last year, and this is one of the reasons why the sport is in such good health, because people are talking about it, not only about Max Verstappen against Oscar Piastri or against Lando Norris in the last two races, but we have been talking about next year for a year, and this is how the sport works, with various areas. of interest”.