How an F1 car works
A Formula 1 car is a carbon-fibre single-seater built around a very strong central tub, with a hybrid engine behind the driver and wings and a shaped floor that push it down onto the track. Every team designs its own car, but they all have to fit inside the same technical regulations written by the FIA.
2026 brought the biggest rule change in more than a decade. The cars are shorter, narrower and lighter than the 2022 to 2025 generation. They have far less downforce and much less drag, the wings move on every lap, and close to half of the car's power now comes from electricity.
The chassis
The heart of the car is the survival cell, also called the monocoque or tub. It's a single carbon-fibre shell that the driver sits in, with the fuel tank directly behind them. Everything else bolts onto it: the engine at the back, the front suspension and nose at the front.
The survival cell has to pass a series of FIA crash tests before the car is allowed to race. You can read more about those on the safety features page.
The power unit
F1 doesn't call it an engine. The power unit is a 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 petrol engine working alongside an electric motor, called the MGU-K, and a battery. In 2026 the electric side can deliver 350 kW, close to three times what it could before, so the split between petrol and electric power is roughly 50/50.
The battery is charged by recovering energy under braking and at other points on the lap. How drivers collect and spend that energy has become a big part of racing. See the power unit and energy recovery and the battery.
Aerodynamics
Air flowing over and under the car creates downforce, which presses the tyres into the track and lets the car corner much faster than its grip alone would allow. The price is drag, which slows the car on the straights.
The 2026 cars handle that trade-off in a new way. Both the front and rear wings have flaps that move between two settings:
- Corner Mode, the normal setting, with the flaps closed for maximum downforce.
- Straight Mode, with the flaps opened on designated straights to cut drag.
Any driver can use Straight Mode in the marked zones on every lap. This is called active aerodynamics, and it replaced the old DRS system. The floor has changed too: the big underbody tunnels of 2022 to 2025 have gone, replaced by a flatter floor and a larger diffuser. There's more on that in downforce and aerodynamics.
Tyres, wheels and brakes
The cars run on 18-inch wheels with tyres made by Pirelli. For 2026 the tyres are narrower than before, by 25 mm at the front and 30 mm at the rear. The tyres section covers compounds and the rules for using them.
The brakes are carbon discs, and they get extremely hot. The rear brakes are partly controlled by the car's electronics, because the MGU-K also slows the rear wheels while it harvests energy. The car blends the two so the driver feels a consistent brake pedal.
The driver's controls
The driver has a throttle and brake pedal, paddles behind the steering wheel for the gears and clutch, and a steering wheel covered in buttons, rotary switches and a screen. Through those controls they change brake balance, differential settings and energy use, and press the buttons for boost and overtake mode. See the steering wheel.
How big and heavy it is
A 2026 car can have a wheelbase of up to 3.4 m and be up to 1.9 m wide, and the minimum weight including the driver is 768 kg. All the numbers are on weight and dimensions.
Who checks it all
Before and after every session, FIA technical delegates inspect the cars to make sure they meet the rules. A car that fails can be disqualified. That process is called scrutineering.