Martin Brundle Urges F1 to Abandon 2026 Car Concept

Martin Brundle has urged Formula 1 to abandon its 2026 car concept at the next major regulation cycle, arguing that energy management has diminished the character of several high-speed circuits.

The former F1 driver delivered his criticism after visiting Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps. Brundle believes the complexity of electrical harvesting and deployment prevents drivers from consistently attacking at full power through sections that previously represented some of the calendar’s greatest challenges.

“I’ve got a bit of a tear in my eye because we’ve lost all the great corners at Silverstone, and here we are at Spa with the same situation,” Brundle told Sky F1.

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“These new regulations hurt us on the high-speed circuits.”

The cars’ reliance on electrical energy requires drivers to manage harvesting and deployment cycles throughout each lap. Brundle suggested those demands have not yet been fully understood across the field and have changed the driving experience compared with concepts that allowed drivers to push closer to the limit more consistently.

The FIA and Formula 1 have already ratified adjustments to the power distribution for future seasons. The split will move to 58 per cent internal combustion and 42 per cent electrical power in 2027, before changing to 60:40 in 2028 to reduce electrical dependency.

Brundle believes those revisions do not address the fundamental problem and wants the current concept removed when the next major regulation cycle arrives in 2030 or 2031. While he acknowledged the cars remain visually fast and can produce entertaining wheel-to-wheel action, he stressed that teams must first gain control of the technical complexities created by the 2026 regulations.