As drivers complain of the need to change their driving style, Nikolas Tombazis insists that F1 cars shouldn't be easy to drive.

Form veterans, world champions and those still fairly new to the F1 grid, many of those inhabiting the 2026 F1 grid have complained that the new generation of car has forced them to change their driving style.

2025 world champion, Lando Norris is one of several to claim that the 2026 is the most difficult car to handle in his entire F1 career.

While Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA's single-seater Director, doesn't exactly deny this, he insists that F1 cars shouldn't be easy to drive.

"They are still quite difficult cars to drive for the drivers, which I think is good, that they're not just cars that anybody can drive," says the Greek, according to Autosport. "Some of the aerodynamic regulations push towards teams not being able to address every single aspect of a car through a corner, and therefore they do have some challenges," he adds.

"But I think when we have the 22 best drivers in the world, we should also have cars that are not exactly easy for my grandma to drive."

Other than a shorter, narrower wheelbase, the 2026 car is 30kgs lighter than its predecessor, however, looking ahead to the next regulation cycle Tombazis admits to seeking an even greater weight reduction.

"The cars are a bit lighter and a bit smaller, which the drivers have appreciated," he says of the current cars. "Now, is that where I would like us to be? No," he admits. "I would like us to be another 80 kilos lighter, and maybe still a bit shorter and a bit smaller in the future.

"That's the sort of target, that we do another big step from what was possible to do now. I think this is not a bad step, but it's not like I'm saying, 'Yes, job done, that's the target'. We want to go to another step of lightness in the future, and also the weight, a significant step.

"This is the first time I think Formula 1 cars have become lighter since probably the year 2000, I would say at least, or maybe earlier."

Of course, it is the power unit regulations that are at the heart of most of the criticism, and the sport continues to work on this. However, in terms of the cars, Tombazis believes the sport is heading in the right direction.

"Although one should never assume that the job is finished, I do think cars follow each other more closely," he says.

"I believe we are similar to where we were at the start of the 2022 championship," he adds, "but I think it's a bit more robust this year. The various aerodynamic solutions they've had, we haven't found something that has broken the concept, whereas in the previous regulations there were a few things that actually did significantly compromise the concept.

"That mainly relates to the front wing endplates in the last generation car, the floor edges and all the furniture on the front wheel. All of those things made the wake characteristics significantly worse. We learned from that and I think hopefully there isn't any equivalent issue."

LATEST NEWS

more news >

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

Click to go to the main galleries section

READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Celtic Tiger, 11/08/2026 19:33

"I see he pulls that Toto Wolff thing of being a self-answerer. "Am I full of sh*te? Yes.", "Would I like to have a consistent opinion? Of course."
He's completely missing the point on the difficulty of driving the current horsesh*t-era cars. We had 600kg cars for over a decade so it amuses me that he thinks the cars being lighter since 2000 and earlier is a flex, especially when they're still a massive 768kg. If they bin the batteries they'll drop another 30-35kg. Then we can really tap-dance. Also, enough playing around with this "a bit shorter, a bit smaller" nonsense, get your hands in there, we want a lot shorter and a lot smaller. Let's bring them back to near mid 1990s dimensions."

Rating: Positive (5) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by JamesD, 11/08/2026 15:09

"You can't defend the indefensible Tombazis. Seems he, Domenicali et al at the FIA are completely deluded. They've destroyed the sport I love and have followed since I was 9, 46 years ago !!"

Rating: Positive (9) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by Laps, 11/08/2026 14:44

"Total BS Mr T. Yes, F1 Drivers are expected to deal with the difficulty cars bring AS A RESULT OF BEING VERY FAST the current cars bring difficulty in GETTING THEM TO GO FAST as a direct result of FIA not understanding that energy recovery rates needed to be matched to the expected energy expenditure during a lap. I’m still stunned at the lack of engineering ‘nouse’ contained in the 2026 Regs. Someone should have been fired, but no one was. "

Rating: Positive (8) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

Tombazis defends 2026 car rules overhaul

LATEST NEWS

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

POST A COMMENT

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

Share this page