’No idea’ what 2026 cars will look like - Wolff

Toto Wolff admits that he has no clear idea what Formula 1 cars will look like in 2026.

Red Bull and Max Verstappen are utterly dominating in the new-in-2023 ’ground effect’ era, but the rules are changing completely for 2026.

"The engine rule has been agreed," Mercedes boss Wolff told Kronen Zeitung newspaper. "100 percent sustainable fuel, and up to 50 percent electric drive.

"That’s set in stone," he said.

But that doesn’t mean everything about 2026 is set in stone, Wolff insists. One uncertainty, he explained, is energy recovery.

"With the current cars, we wouldn’t have enough energy to drive full throttle on the straight in Baku and Monza," he said.

"This is a huge challenge. Because we also have to develop a car that is lighter - and with a battery.

"But the car should be shorter, narrower and so aerodynamically efficient that we have the lowest possible drag on the straights without losing much downforce in the corners," Wolff added.

So what will the new-gen Formula 1 cars look like in 2026?

"I don’t know whether they will be dragsters or small spaceships where the wings retract in a straight line," Wolff smiled.

"But that’s exactly what makes it so exciting. And that’s exactly how F1 has to be - namely, that it opens up these new paths."