Tech & Rules
Session and race reports, driver and team moves, rules and tech, and the rumours worth knowing. Written from official statements and two or more reports — sources are listed under every article. Unofficial — not associated with Formula 1 or any team.
Bottas takes 50-place grid drop in Mexico after five new PU elements
Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas will take a 50-place grid penalty at this weekend's Mexico City Grand Prix after the team fitted five new power unit elements in one go. Under the regulations, any drop of more than 15 places ...
Mercedes to run latest W17 upgrade on both cars in Austin
Mercedes will run its latest upgrade package on both Kimi Antonelli's and George Russell's cars at this weekend's United States G...
Ferrari brings biggest SF-26 upgrade to Austin, but sidepod timing is disputed
Ferrari is reported to be bringing the fourth and biggest aerodynamic upgrade of its 2026 season to Circuit of the Americas in Au...
F1 race distance: 290km for 2027 only, 305km returns in 2028
The newly published 2027 F1 regulations contain a "Changes for 2028" section that returns the minimum grand prix distance to 305k...
Rwanda's F1 track: 6km, 17 corners and a lap built for overtaking
The track that will host Rwanda's African Grand Prix from the early 2030s is not a street circuit. It is a purpose-built venue be...
FIA president says F1 returns to V8 engines in 2030, 80kg lighter
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said on Tuesday 13 October, at the event announcing the African Grand Prix in Rwanda, that F1 ...
Sepang formation lap stoppages traced to bug in FIA wet-weather software
The Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang on 4 October saw its first start attempt abandoned after a number of cars lost power on the form...
Pirelli locks in C2-C3-C4 for F1's Sepang comeback
Official tyre supplier Pirelli has confirmed it will bring the hard C2, medium C3 and soft C4 compounds to the Bahrain Grand Prix...
F1's 2030 V8 plan would cut electric power from 350kW to 100kW
Formula 1 is examining a return to 3.0-litre turbocharged V8 engines from 2030. The most striking number in the emerging plan is ...
Verstappen Investigated for Safety Car Side-by-Side, Cleared
Just before the second restart of the Baku Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was seen pulling alongside George Russell at Turn 16. Runni...
McLaren Brings Season's Biggest Upgrade to Baku, Rotating H-Wing Returns
McLaren is bringing its biggest upgrade package of the second half of the 2026 season to this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix. A ...
Russell's W17 passes every check in random FIA inspection after Madrid
After the Madrid GP (Spanish GP), the FIA randomly selected George Russell's Mercedes W17 from the top ten for additional physica...
FIA confirms two Straight Mode zones for Baku, linked to Overtake Mode
The FIA has confirmed two active aero 'Straight Mode' zones for the Baku circuit, which hosts the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this Satu...
How a 350kW MGU-K survives Baku's kilometre of full throttle
Baku City Circuit, which hosts this Saturday's race, is the toughest test yet for the 2026 power units. With electrical power mak...
Ferrari's ADUO engine reaches Perez in Baku, but not Bottas yet
The ADUO-upgraded Ferrari power unit that debuted at Monza will also go into Sergio Perez's Cadillac in Baku this week. His team-...
F1 cuts 2027 races from 305km to 290km, trimming two or three laps
From 2027 the minimum race distance for an F1 grand prix drops from 305km to 290km. The third F1 Commission meeting of the year, ...
F1 drops three-hour race limit for a fixed hard-stop time from 2027
From 2027 the three-hour limit on an F1 race, measured from start to finish, is going. In its place comes a hard-stop time set fo...
Gearbox homologation scrapped for 2027 so suppliers can keep developing
Gearbox homologation will disappear from F1 in 2027. Meeting at the FIA's London offices on Monday 21 September, the F1 Commissio...
FIA commits to energy management tweaks, but nothing is agreed yet
The FIA held a first meeting yesterday (Thursday 9 April) with technical staff from the teams and power unit manufacturers and sa...
F1 holds 2026 rule changes until Miami, with a working group after Japan
F1 has decided not to rush a fix for the energy-management problems of its 2026 rules. The Race reported on 15 March, straight af...