Adrian Newey has hit out at Formula 1’s rules revolution for 2026.
Renowned as perhaps the most talented technical mind in the sport’s history, the 65-year-old has been snapped up by Aston Martin and is tipped to produce perhaps the best car for the new F1 era.
However, he is no fan of the 2026 regulations.
"I can’t remember the last time there were new rules for both the chassis and the power unit," Newey is quoted as saying by DAZN.
"The power unit rules were set some time ago and there was no thought given at the time to the accompanying chassis rules," he added. "It’s an issue the FIA and teams have had to deal with.
"How will it work? It’s not really clear."
At the last F1 Commission meeting, obviously rattled by simulations of 2026 cars running out of electrical power on the straights, the sport decided to make further modifications to the new rules.
"But even now," Newey said, "there is still a lot of concern that the cars will be considerably slower at the end of the race in a straight line than at the beginning, because they will drain their battery."
The chassis rules are designed to compensate for this, but Newey says it will come at a cost.
"The most important thing for Formula 1 is the clean and original character of the cars," he said. "If the chassis regulations - which mainly concern aerodynamic rules - become too restrictive, all the cars will look the same."
Newey said Indycar is an example of a series that was competing with F1 for prominence in the mid-90s, only to suffer a serious dip with overly restrictive chassis rules.
He thinks F1 conceived its 2026 rules almost purely to appease and attract car manufacturers.
"Audi is coming in, Honda reversed its decision to leave," said Newey. "But for me, the value is in the teams, not the manufacturers. They come and go.
"They change CEOs, they suddenly decide they’d rather sponsor a tennis tournament than Formula 1, they go in a different direction. We’ve seen that regularly."