What the Williams team principal expects ‘Whoever leaves the old road for the new one knows what he leaves behind but doesn’t know what he finds’. F1 will change completely in 2026 with a completely new regulation as happens periodically, but there has never been such a Copernican revolution as the one that is about to materialise. If in 2025 the passage to Q2 was not a given for anyone with a very close starting grid especially on the single lap in 2026 it is reasonable to expect more defined gaps between the teams. Williams team principal James Vowles, however, does not expect such huge differences as occurred for example in 2014 when the power units were introduced for the first time. “We won’t all be as close as in 2025, but at the same time there won’t be three and a half seconds between first and last as in 2014 – said Vowles interviewed by the Autosport newspaper – I believe that the grid will be enclosed in two seconds and that there will be a battle at the top of the standings. F1 has understood that it is essential that there is a fight and the regulations will allow everyone to make up ground”. According to Vowles, the new rules will not disappoint enthusiasts: “Overtaking will occur where you don’t expect it and will be a chess game dictated by energy management – he added – the regulation is very different from the first draft that we started discussing in Canada in 2024, since then the dialogue between the teams and the FIA has allowed us to arrive at a much better ‘package'”.
