A meeting of the FIA World Council took place on Thursday, where changes to the regulations of numerous championships held under the auspices of the federation, including Formula 1, were approved.
From 2025, Formula 1 will abolish the rule whereby the winner of the best lap of the race receives an extra point. This rule was first introduced in 2019, but after a minor scandal that occurred during the final stage in Singapore, when Daniel Ricciardo, who was running outside the top ten, recorded the best lap on fresh tires to take off an extra point to tackle Lando Norris, the FIA has decided to refuse from this point of the regulations.
Another important change in the regulations concerns the number of times per season that teams must make a car available to a young driver in the first training session. In concrete terms, this means that if every chief pilot has missed the first training once per season in 2024, every chief pilot will miss the first two training sessions in 2025.
Major changes to the regulations for the 2026 season were presented during the World Council meeting. These changes include “a reorganization of the way the regulations are presented, which will now be divided into thematic sections for clarity and consistency. The transition to the new structure will be completed in the coming months.
The 2026 Technical Regulations (Section C), originally adopted in June 2024, make significant adjustments to the aerodynamics of the cars, as a result of the close cooperation between the FIA, FOM and Formula 1 teams.
The changes allow the cars to become more efficient while still maintaining the performance needed for a thrilling and exciting race on the track.
Significant changes have been made to the Sports Regulations (Section B) to simplify and modernize its structure. It includes measures to regulate the efficiency of the power units and active aerodynamics, including a “straight-line speed mode” (with reduced drag) and a “corner mode” (with high downforce).
In addition, three three-day testing sessions will take place before the start of the 2026 season.”
With regard to the Financial Regulations (Part D), this has been somewhat simplified to better understand what costs are included in the budgetary constraints and to “strengthen the measures available to the FIA to monitor compliance with the Financial Regulations.” The level of spending ceilings will remain at the current inflation-adjusted level.
In the coming months, the FIA will submit the announced changes to the World Council for approval, finalizing the development of the regulations for the 2026 season.
The next meeting of the World Council is scheduled for December 11 as part of the FIA General Assembly.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
