2026 rules allowing more creativity than expected

Rob Marshall says Formula 1’s much-criticised 2026 regulations are allowing far more design freedom than engineers initially expected.

"We expected the regulations to be quite strict," said the McLaren chief designer.

"In the past, large amounts of numbers and data were written on paper, which to some extent determined the framework that had to be followed.

"Now, there are tons of extremely complex CAD models, and at first glance it seems far more difficult to exercise creativity based on them, because the model designs the machine for you."

However, Marshall said the reality across the grid has been very different.

"When I looked at the other teams’ cars, they were employing quite different solutions, and there were some that were particularly interesting."

He pointed to several standout concepts.

"Audi’s sidepods are quite interesting. They’ve adopted a different solution, and there’s nothing else quite like it. We thought they would just repurpose something commonplace, but obviously that wasn’t the case."

"The suspension geometry on the Aston Martin is very interesting. The rear is quite ambitious and very interesting. There’s certainly some reason to be interested in it. The front suspension is also very interesting, and it may have been inspired by something we worked on last year."

Marshall also highlighted Ferrari’s approach.

"The rear wing - everyone saw it and thought, ’Oh, I see, no problem’," he said, referring to the so-called ’Macarena’ solution that has reportedly now also been tested by Red Bull. "So I asked if it was really legal, and they said, ’No problem.’"

"The exhaust vents also feature some ingenious design elements, and everyone thought, ’This is quite interesting.’"

"The front wings are also very distinctive, but you can see a variety of shapes depending on the team. Everyone thought the front wings would all look the same, but that’s not actually the case."