Ferrari Formula One driver Charles Leclerc has opened up about the 2026 F1 car after practicing on the team’s simulator, stating that drivers will have to forget everything they’ve learned and “start from a blank page” to race next year.
The premier class of motorsport steps into a new era of regulations next year, where cars will be powered by two sources in equal proportion: an internal combustion unit running on sustainable fuel and electric power.
The 2026 car will also do away with F1’s popular Drag Reduction System (DRS), making way for active aerodynamics at the front and rear wings. The new challenger will also be lighter, more compact, and equipped with narrower tires.
All changes suggest that F1 drivers have a challenging task ahead of adapting to an entirely different machine that hasn’t been driven before. Leclerc highlighted the extent of contrast between the cars driven in F1 thus far and the car arriving next year. He told the media:
“It’s very, very different to what we are used to. I think drivers, there will be a lot of things that we’ll have to forget from whatever we’ve learned in our career to start again from a blank page.
“That’s a little bit strange because, having done this sport since I’m four years old, to be having to erase something from my muscle memory will be, would be a little bit strange.
“But it’s part of the game, and in itself, it’s a challenge to try and reinvent a little bit the rules and find some performance in other things. I’m looking forward to the challenge, but it’s very different.”
Williams F1 driver Alex Albon revealed his experience with the 2026 F1 car simulator, suggesting that the technological load on the driver will be very high. Newsweek Sports reported his comments:
“It’s difficult. It’s difficult to drive. Technologically, the load on the driver is immensely high as well. It’s quite important to know how to use the engine and the deployment, and you have to learn a different driving style. But it’s part of the regulations. It’s technology at the end of the day.”
He added:
“There is a lot that the driver has to do. I don’t think it will always purely come down to how good the driver is around the corner. A driver who’s quite smart and can understand the system — and even abuse the system, understand how it works, and become efficient with it — they’re going to find performance in that as well.”
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