2026 sim laptimes still ’much too slow’ - Wolff

Formula 1 risks becoming "much too slow" with the debut of the 2026 regulations as currently written, Toto Wolff admits.

Many are tipping Mercedes to once again ace the forthcoming rule changes, but even boss Wolff admits he is worried about the laptimes currently emerging from simulations.

"What we need are cars that have as little drag as possible on the straights, but still have enough downforce to be fast in the corners," he told the Austrian broadcaster ORF.

Indeed, so extreme is the electrical component of the hybrid engine power for 2026 that the rule-makers are still tweaking the precise chassis regulations.

Wolff warned: "What we have now is much too slow. Sometimes we have laptimes that are ten seconds slower than today.

"But Formula 1 has always been the cradle of innovation and I am convinced that the cars will become fast again through what the engineers will come up with."

The Austrian thinks that even if the laptimes do take a hit in 2026, many spectators wouldn’t mind or even notice.

"The cars are still much faster than anything else that exists," said Wolff. "You also have to realise that there is little difference for the television viewer.

"The Indycars look fast too, but they are 20 seconds slower than the Formula 1 cars."

Nonetheless, Wolff joins those who think F1 is going down an extreme road by requiring that a full 50 percent of the propulsion in 2026 will be with electrical energy.

"Perhaps there could have been a little less battery and a little more combustion engine," he said. "After all, we will already be running entirely on sustainable fuel. That fuel is 100 percent sustainable, so we could certainly have made some adjustments.

"But anyway, it’s too late for that now."