Ferrari addresses F1 2026 engine role as true crucial performance area revealed

Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur says “driveability” is going to be the true crucial area of performance come F1 2026.

And if someone comes up with a Brawn GP-style double diffuser innovation, Vasseur warns that a better engine will not be enough to trump that.

F1 2026: Driveability bigger key to performance than engine?

It is all change under the new regulations for F1 2026. The cars are due to become smaller and 30kg lighter under the FIA’s ‘nimble car’ concept. They will utilise active aerodynamics, which means the Drag Reduction System [DRS] will bow out.

The engines will also change, running on a 50/50 split of electrical power and an internal combustion engine making use of fully sustainable biofuels.

Much of the focus has been on the engines, the widely held belief being that energy management and deployment will play a critical role in performance from F1 2026.

“It will,” Verstappen confirmed to the media, including PlanetF1.com, when asked if F1 2026 will be a story of energy management races. “Some races a bit more than others.

“But I mean, that’s already happening also now. But for sure, next year, that will be a bit more.

“Time will tell, of course, if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

However, Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has pointed to “driveability” over power as the factor which will matter most.

“No one can predict what will happen with such a rule change,” Vasseur told Auto Motor und Sport as he assessed the F1 2026 landscape.

“No one in 2009 could have guessed that Brawn GP would be four tenths ahead of everyone else with its double diffuser. And they came out of nowhere.

“This time, the rule change is even bigger. Everything is changing: chassis, drive, fuel, tyres, sporting regulations. You can make a difference in each of these areas.

“We are facing a new challenge with the engine. Now it’s power that counts. Next year it will be drivability.

“One engine might be good at Monza, another at Monte Carlo or Budapest. Almost like it used to be when the turbos competed against the naturally aspirated engines.”

How F1 2026 is shaping up

? F1 2026: Confirmed teams and power unit suppliers for F1’s huge regulation changes

? F1 2026 driver line-up: Who is already confirmed for the 2026 grid?

Such sweeping changes mean potential for major change in the F1 pecking order. Ferrari will hope to be the team which benefits most, as they bid to end their title drought ongoing since 2008.

“We are good at reacting,” Vasseur declared.

“The uncertainty is what makes next season so exciting from the spectators’ point of view.

“Let’s say someone gains half a second by making better use of the tyres or exploiting a loophole in the chassis. It will be difficult to compensate for that with a better engine.”

Ferrari is joined by Mercedes, Honda, Red Bull Powetrains and Audi F1 as the engine manufacturers for F1 2026.

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