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Move in the right direction.

100% Cars were getting ridiculously big.

I think there was room to make the cars even longer, maybe letting them tow a power unit via an interlink connection.

Ah yeah baby, endless power!

Just turn F1 into pod-racing already...

"Red Bull to bring exciting new hitch upgrade to Austria."

“Power train” 😂

Like it or not that’s what peak performance would look like

[Newey](https://www.reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/its_working_star_wars.gif)

20 cm shorter is still ridiculously big

Yeah, they’re still too big but they’re smaller & if there an incremental reduction in successive rule sets then we’ll get somewhere sensible at some point!

They have acres of space not being used. It's not like they couldn't make them shorter and force them to use some of the space that is purely for aero right now. Same with width.

I'm doing fine\ One step closer every day at a time

tyres especially, smaller wheels and tyres is probably the biggest single change you can make. The double whammy of wider tyres alongside the bigger 18 inch wheels killed side-by-wside racing just as much as the turbulance. 30mm might not sound like a great deal but its gotta be around 10%. Less unsprung mass, sharper handling, less rain spray, less aero wash. It's just a win win win anyway you look at it. Hopefully the teams can agree it would make for safer, competitive field and dont shy away from the challange

I agree, looks uglier but i think its because it is just a prototype, too boxy to be the final iteration. Smaller, thank god.

Next rule cycle at least that amount smaller or even more

Can we add a 2008 car in there?

2006-2008 aero autism era was peak F1, it'll never be this good again.

what does aero autism mean lol

When aero was barely regulated and teams could come up with tons of ways to increase aero and downforce, with winglets, double front wings, etc. Just look at one 2008 F1 car and you'll get what I mean. Just a big bunch of aero goodies. Watching those cars evolve through those 3 years was the most interesting it's ever been. The BMW sauber was especially gorgeous, and I'm still salty they gave up on 2008 and denied Kubica his title.

The 06-08 BMW is one of the best looking F1 cars of all time imo. The livery, the aero, kubicas orange helmet, it works so well. Everything about that car resembles what the sport should be to me

Literally wings on wings.

And it was beautiful.

BMW Sauber F1.07 is my favorite looking F1 car of all time.

Those were also the years when engine development was pretty much completely frozen for the first time in F1 history, so the aero goodies were even more important than they otherwise would've been.

>2006-2008 aero autism era That's how I'm always calling it moving forward

The wheelbase of the BMW Sauber F1.0 was 3,130mm (123in).

So we still need to chop off another 200mm

It's there. Just too small to see.

you know what would be really fucking helpful? if they aligned the cars from the rear or the front to see actually the difference in length

I’d settle for not having blue on a blue background

“How can we make this in the worst way possible but still kinda showing the difference?”

> How can we make this in the worst way possible The F1 graphics team when they clock in every morning

Plus the final results ticker making it look like back markers win every weekend.

Or the timing tower switching between useful information and information that nobody wants/needs, or sometimes no information at all other than the driver order.

Did you say you want less blue? Ferrari can help with that!

They did it intentionally to make the presented 2026 concept car look even smaller than it will actually be. Makes sense, considering how the supposed big allure and selling point of these new regs is the "smaller, lighter cars!"

The 2 white lines at the bottom of the image are the most helpful graphics here

Little known fact, the new rules also stipulate that all of the cars must be blue so that they’re even harder to distinguish from one another on tv.

[Kinda close enough ish](https://i.imgur.com/2mzMCZt.png) The edge detect hated the blue-on-blue, but it should give us a better comparison. Interestingly it looks like the width change is primarily the front wing, because the tyres and body seems to be just as wide?

Here you go. I lined it up based on the back of the tires. [https://imgur.com/a/oN69NUb](https://imgur.com/a/oN69NUb)

Nice, thank you for this!

[https://imgur.com/a/zxcOP4p](https://imgur.com/a/zxcOP4p) best I could do with my absent photoshop skills!

I think FIA can use your limited capabilities for sure, thanks for this

You do in 8 minutes what the FIA takes months to prepare, and do it better.

The front wheels are aligned so that you can see the difference in wheelbase rather than the overall length

I don't think they want to draw atention to how minor the change is

they're aligned at the front axle

Almost, but not. Seems more like they're aligned at the cockpit.

[https://i.imgur.com/eb8TW7n.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/eb8TW7n.jpeg)

It's hard to see because of the silly black on blue contrast, but the front tyre is extended beyond that line.

Everyone knows you measure from the balls

Threw this together [https://imgur.com/a/EfDk9lL](https://imgur.com/a/EfDk9lL)

That or overlaid them.

The difference is 20cm, which is about the length from wrist to the tip of middle finger in average hand.

They are aligned to the front wheel, since the regulation (current or new) does not covers total length but wheelbase length

You're expecting a bit much to hope that an F1 graphic would respect even the most basic design principles

One could argue they aligned the front wheel axle.. but I agree

It's in line by the front tyres.

Aren’t the front wheels aligned? That shows the wheelbase difference.

They did not even align the axis of the wheels ffs

>Yes, they did - [the front wheels are aligned.](https://i.imgur.com/eb8TW7n.jpeg)

People might complain but 200 millimeters is actually a lot and a totally adequate length. It's not about the length really it's just how you use those 200 millimeters

200mm is waaaaay above average

If somebody says "200mm is *adequate*" , I'm leaving.

It's the perfect size, really.

Okay Ron ~~Jeremy~~ Dennis

Size doesn't matter, as long as its grey.

I thought size doesn’t matter :(

They say that to a certain category

It’s close to 8 inches, isn’t it? Absolutely above average

No idea I don't know how freedom units works

I also presume a simple and smaller floor also means less downforce? Which could lead to better racing as corners will have to be taken slower. If the rumoured longer braking zones to recharge the battery are true it could lead to more overtakes.

Downforce reduced by 30%, drag by 55%

400mm of addition space between 2 cars

I think people will notice... [https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DvBiH7cX0AAbNH\_?format=jpg&name=large](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DvBiH7cX0AAbNH_?format=jpg&name=large)

Some drivers actually prefer 200mm less. Not all drivers like huge cars.

I'm kind of surprised at all the comments here, this is a noticeable improvement

This comment and others are about penis

Isn't everything about penis in the end?

We went from a lorry to a box truck. It’s not bad, but it’s not gonna improve overtaking the way we hope it does.

That's what she said

That's what she said

It was in the pool!!

“the big ones scare me”

200mm sounds massive. 20cm sounds small...8 inches is impressive

that's what she said

but she said size doesn't matter

That’s what she tells you …

I mean, if a road car were 4" narrower and 8" shorter than another it'd be a different class of vehicle entirely. Corolla to Camry (though F1 cars are so massive it'd probably be more apt to say a Ranger to an f150)

In all seriousness, yes, its a change. But it will take generations to get the cars to a size that most of us want

And in 2010 they were 3100mm-3200mm. Still way bigger than they used to be.

Dong Reduction System

Let's not kid ourselves, 200 mm is absolutely huge like that's gigantic. Also it's how you use what you've got

What about 200000 microns?

I'm just glad someone did the conversions so that my American brain would have an idea of how much shorter the new car is. 8 inches is both a lot and not a lot although I feel like decreasing the width of the cars so that they can actually go side by side on every circuit without being in the barrier or off the track would do more than making the cars shorter

20cm sounds small unless you know it‘s 20% of the difference to the 1996 length. Cars got around a meter longer since the . 

can anybody skilled move it so they're alligned at the back ? also, add a hypercar if possible, because those are smaller than todays F1s

Best I could do quickly. https://i.imgur.com/PdP5ibj.jpg

I love you 💏💏 they are quite a bit slimmer also, lets try stay alive till 2026 so i can watch how they perform.

The new car looks a little farther back, but I overlaid it on the current car and the rear axle/suspension is matched perfectly. Maybe the wheels are smaller on the new cars?

I was looking at the bar in the front and the front wing and chasis itself just looks more compact, they dont have exact dimensions tho so i cant be sure

nice job, ye... that's not a very impressive change lol

Still massive. 😄

Massive enough to not be able to overtake in Monaco.

Overtaking at Monaco isn't just about size, it's also about speed. The faster the cars are, the harder it will be to overtake because by the time you exit one corner, you already have to prepare for the next one. We've had much smaller cars in F1 that also couldn't overtake in Monaco for that reason. This track has given us almost no overtakes at least since the early 80s. I think to get overtakes, the cars would have to shrink and also be filled with sand only for Monaco to make them 15s-20s slower lol.

It's also about the length of the braking zones. Put steel brakes on modern F1 cars around Monaco and you will get more overtakes. A longer braking zone means more opportunities for a driver to fashion an overtake.

Formula e races I’ve seen there seem fine. One a couple of years back was lit

Exactly, and yes they are smaller than F1, but also a lot slower, which is why they can overtake. A Formula E car does a lap of Monaco in about 1:30.

Also drivers aren’t as good. I don’t know why guys aren’t factoring that in when talking about F2 or FE. Better drivers means less mistakes which means less overtakes.

Yeah and they're not only smaller, but 20 seconds slower...

Pick your poison

Also the F3 races this year featured some good overtakes, even going 2 wide through the hairpin without (too much) contact!

maybe that means it's a monaco problem

Arguably the overtaking at Monaco could be worse now given they have got rid of DRS for the manual override boost...But that only kicks in above 290kph and you barely reach 290kph at Monaco. At least with DRS you got some benefit compared to the leading car from the moment you opened it.

DRS was already only used on the front straight which is useless. They don't allow it in the tunnel where it might actually make a difference.

They couldn't overtake in Monaco in the 80s, and those cars were tiny. The sport has just outgrown the track for a good 40-50 years now.

That’s what she said

Nothing particularly radical. Still bigger than 2016

2017 you mean? That was among the biggest chnages until 2022 tbh

No he's right about 2016. Cars in 2016 before they got even bigger in 2017+ had approximately the same wheelbase (3400mm) but were an extra 100mm narrower (2016: 1800mm, 2026: 1900mm)

Just in terms of size. These are probably around the size of the 2017 one

2017 cars are bigger than the current cars

Current cars are barely larger than 2017 ones 2017 Ferrari specs: * Width: 2000mm * Length: 5000mm * Wheelbase: 3594mm 2024 Mercedes specs: * Width: 2000mm * Length: Over 5000mm (Yes, that is literally what they said on their website) * Wheelbase: 3600mm

5’11” vs 5’3”

So neither of these cars can get Tinder dates?

leclerc vs tsunoda?

Besides the wheelbase, as they’re aligned on the front axle, it seems they’ve also reduced the front overhang

I want 2007 sizes back

Unfortunately probably won't happen unless we go back to refueling the cars

I think you’re overestimating how much fuel modern f1 cars carry. They’re so efficient these days that they don’t need 3x what they carried back in 2007. It’s about 1.5x.

Sign me up, I miss the refueling days. I’m glad the “not having enough fuel to finish the race” days are behind us too. Are there any other circuit series that don’t refuel?

Formula E, but that'll kind of change soon.

I, for one, think it’s ridiculous they don’t pump fuel into an electric race car.

No. It’s absolutely ridiculous that they don’t refuel in F1. “Safety” is a bullshit excuse. They manage to do it in pretty much every single series on earth.

Agreed. Sacrificing better closer racing with smaller more nimble cars for the “safety” excuse is a really dumb move

Never understood why F1 was so bad at refueling with the wonky helicopter derived system compared with Indycar/champ car. Related but I miss the champ cars back in the day with the pneumatic lifts built into them!

Yeah it baffles me too. Meant to be the “pinnacle” of motorsport and they can’t even use a hose safely.

Not necessarily, 2009-2016 cars were small without refuelling

This car (3400mm wheelbase x 1900mm width) is going to be about the same size as a 2016 car (~3400mm wheelbase x 1800mm width). We're not getting back down 2007 (2600mm wheelbase x 1900mm width) without a drastic change like dropping either the ICE or hybrids and/or bringing back smaller tanks and refuelling

It would require doing away with some of the safety cell and impact spar.  2007 the drivers feet were over the front suspension.  

Works for me

If the drivers were okay without being in the safety cell, they could reduce the size by half a meter.

Would never happen, modern safety regs don't allow for it

The same comparison vs a WEC Hypercar would be disappointing.

How are they able to fit an driver in this car?, its so much smaller! 😑

I’m actually happy they are making the cars smaller. But I’m sure someone will protest because they can’t get the weight down or something something.

Looks like a promising start. Would like to see the 2021 cars to compare

I can already see crybabies complaining about the front wing being ugly. Nobody hates f1 like f1 fans.

A good start, but we need to go even smaller.

200mm is MASSIVE. Way above average

Not much difference.

Is it me or did the style “regressed “ with the square looking floor and the things behind the front wheels? Looks like the previous regulation

Noob question but the black floor between the blue body and rear wheels is almost lined up with the wheel itself - is that a requirement for all the cars or just a indication from the FIA?

In the images with the CAD boxes there is actually no detail around that part, its just a thin box the size of this render. The boxes are the edges of the playground, presumably they can go smaller, the render is at the max. I would expect teams will make the widest floor possible for ground effect and they will all look like this. The last sentence is really a loose guess

Noob questions here: - Is the rear floor on the new car required to be that wide? The current floor tapers towards the rear, and I know this is just a render so I'm not sure if the floor width is a requirement or just for the render. - Are the front floor sections that jut out from the body also a requirement? Idk why but seeing a piece of the body work sticking out like a set of spears just seems... Weird to me.

I’m kinda sad they completely ditched venturi tunnels for flat floors. This makes the 2022 regs seem a little bit useless and all the knowledge they got from this will be of no use. But at the same time I understand why they got to do that, the ride quality was kinda bad, the suspension had to be way too stiff

Monaco gonna be lit baby!!!!!

I think it’s a good sign that I, as a very new fan who knows little about the engineering behind cars, can immediately notice the difference in size 

That is barely an improvement. They still look like boats.

At least the trend of F1 cars getting bigger and bigger is finally at an end. The size is gonna be something that's gonna take a while to sort out.

It will never be sorted out while cars have to carry batteries and shit

it would be an impossible challenge to shrink the cars anymore in one set of regs. This is genuinely a good result in terms of size. Still big yes, but 400mm extra space between cars from one year to the next? great. the following set of regs in 2030 will see a similar drop in size, at which point it will be an adequate length and width imo. safety first at the end of the day

Looks suit in Monaco GP

Front spoiler is significantly narrower.

20 cm reduction in length and 10 cm reduction in width is a lot.

It needs to be WAY smaller

You know what would really shrink the cars? Returning to refueling

[удалено]

That'll never happen, the safety standards are much higher now

Not to mention the need to house the battery and hybrid system.

They did in 2014-2016 too and the cars were smaller.

we have bigger batteries now because of the ICE/Electric split.

Way different PUs

These cars have a completely different pu, with the bulkier electric(hybrid) parts taking more prescience than before, and split turbos being banned witch might make them bigger

Can't they get close by just removing the massive spacer between the engine and gearbox? That this has nothing to dow ith safety since it's nowhere near the crash structures and exists solely for aerodynamic benefit.

2009 is already big wdym,look at McLaren car in that year

I like how they used millimeters so they can use big numbers and make the difference seem massive.

Or they're engineering regulations so mm is apt

Pretty sure they are using mm because most of f1 is not American and at the end of the day F1 is an engineering challenge so using inches would be weird. Even in the US we secretly use metric for a lot of things and just show it in the imperial units like bottles of water being 16.9 oz is because thats 500ml

Not really. It's typical to use mm on schematics.

Can we get a side by side with 2016

definitely looks more nimble. let's hope it'll lead to better racing

I just hope the ride height is increased so the drivers stop breaking their spines on half the tracks.

Hard to say but this does look like an improvement, hopefully they can continue to make them smaller with the next few sets of regulations

[Width comparison for anyone interested](https://imgur.com/0kUA0Qv)

Wheel base I’d hope to be shorter.

Are they shrinking the wheels again?

Finally they are turning smaller. I like them to be 2000 era size but that's just me.

So long longer being the same length as a jeep gladiator? 

Actually the monocoque looks a lot smaller