‘Quiet criticism’ growing among F1 teams over 2026 rule change expected to cost £15m-a-year

The 2026 Formula 1 season is going to see a huge overhaul in the sport’s ruleset.

Formula 1 regularly changes its regulations to try and encourage innovation and to avoid every team converging to the point where they each have nearly identical cars.

The margins between both McLaren cars and Max Verstappen, particularly in qualifying this year, highlight just how close the grid currently is, but that has its own drawbacks as well.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur suggested that the season is becoming a qualifying formula due to how difficult it is for cars to overtake.

The Japanese Grand Prix saw one position change among the top 10 drivers, with Lewis Hamilton overtaking Isack Hadjar in the early stages of the race.

F1’s 2026 regulations are likely to shake up the order on the grid and potentially increase the gaps between certain teams.

Newcomers Cadillac will have their work cut out, while Audi will take over Sauber at potentially their lowest ebb.

Confidence that next year’s ruleset will see an improvement in the on-track action is waning, and there’s another issue that is causing growing concern within the paddock.

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Rising sustainable fuel costs creating ‘quiet criticism’ within the F1 paddock

One of the biggest talking points going into next season is the changing power units which will rely on both an internal combustion engine and a more powerful electrical battery.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Red Bull agree on changing these power units in the future, with concerns about how they impact racing.

Suggestions that drivers may be forced to lift on longer straights to recover enough battery power for the rest of the lap would be a disaster for the sport, but a report from Auto Motor und Sport suggests another issue is beginning to emerge in the paddock.

They believe that ‘quiet criticism’ is growing among teams about the new sustainable fuels being used to power each internal combustion engine.

It’s believed the costs are hitting customer teams ‘hard’ as this is said to potentially create an additional cost of up to £15m-a-year.

Alpine chief Flavio Briatore recently admitted, via AMuS, when speaking about next year’s ruleset, “The most expensive thing right now is the bench testing with the new fuel.”

This was echoed by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner who explained, “Fuel is potentially one of the most important differentiators for engine performance.

“That’s what makes it so attractive for manufacturers. Development costs money.”

Each team has signed a contract with a different producer of sustainable fuels, meaning this is yet another deviation between each manufacturer that will be impossible for the vast majority of fans to extrapolate from a car’s performance.

With feelings in the paddock mixed about this ruleset before it’s even started, it’s another critique that won’t go in the favour of the upcoming regulations.

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Who could be the team to beat during the 2026 Formula 1 season?

Formula 1 has heavily reduced the amount of testing teams are allowed to do each season, but those rules will be relaxed next year.

It means instead of three days of pre-season running in Bahrain, there will be nine days of potential testing starting next January which will begin to give fans a taste of which teams have nailed their development, and which teams are already a step behind.

There are suggestions that Mercedes have a strong power unit for 2026 already which will benefit customer teams McLaren, Williams and Alpine.

Red Bull begin work with Ford for the first time and Max Verstappen’s movement, or lack thereof, in the driver market this year may be a sign of how well that project is developing.

Ferrari will add Cadillac to their list of customers from 2026 but will lose Sauber as Audi begin work on their own power unit.

There are so many factors that go into these new cars that determine who will be the team to beat at this stage is impossible, but the FIA will hope that some of the pessimism around the new ruleset will dissipate as soon as the red lights go out at the first Grand Prix of the year.