Williams boss James Vowles reckons overtaking will look much different in the 2026 Formula 1 campaign, with more emphasis on technical skill rather than driver aids.
The championship is in the process of introducing what’s arguably its biggest regulation change in history, with overhauls to both the chassis and power unit.
There will be more emphasis on electrical energy, a near 50-50 split with the internal combustion engine, plus lighter and smaller cars in a bid to improve wheel-to-wheel racing and overtaking.
Although drivers were initially skeptical after simulator tests, with Charles Leclerc saying the cars were “less enjoyable”, Vowles thinks they are now relishing the challenge of mastering the incoming changes.
The matter was put to him during the team principal press conference ahead of last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, and Vowles said: “The overtaking will be different but it will happen, it’ll just be in a different way to what you’re used to now.
“The drivers had to go once and thought this isn’t great, then the second time went that’s interesting, then by the third or fourth time, this is race drivers, they’re actually really into it and there’s a very different way of optimising it as a solution and they can see how the advantage can come in.
James Vowles, Team Principal, Williams Racing
Photo by: Shameem Fahath / Motorsport Network
“So, from that perspective, I think it will be interesting and I do think it will increase overtaking, just not in the areas you think it will, that’s probably the right way of putting it.”
He added that a circuit’s prime overtaking spots may change as a result, using Spa as an example, reckoning there will be less emphasis on making a pass at the start of Kemmel Straight.
This is a consequence of replacing DRS with an incoming manual override system that, in effect, is a push-to-pass button that gives the following car more energy beyond 280km/h.
Because of the added reliance on electric energy, Vowles believes this will favour the drivers more in tune with their car as opposed to simply relying on DRS to overtake.
“The way the rules are at the moment, I think they will be busier in the cockpit,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing, I think you’ll get those that come out on top as a result of it, that are the ones completely in control of the car and its behaviours and then thinking outside the box.
“The areas that are different are just simply, probably the right way of putting it, is you can almost fill the entire battery in one braking zone but you can deplete it in one straight. So that creates a very different dynamic to what we have this year.”
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, Williams, Franco Colapinto, Alpine
Photo by: Andy Hone / LAT Images via Getty Images
But how next year will precisely look is still largely unknown with teams still developing their 2026 cars. The first time they will be seen on track is in pre-season running with three tests scheduled for the start of next year.
There will be a five-day private test in Barcelona on 26-30 January before two separate three-day runs in Bahrain ahead of the Melbourne opener in March.
Aston Martin boss Andy Cowell, who was in the same session as Vowles, thinks the opening session will therefore look much different to that of 2025 due to the new regulations.
“The test at Barcelona, are we all going to be doing 800 kilometres each day like we did in Bahrain 10 months ago? No,” he said.
“We’re going to be pulling everything together and making sure that everything works and the car will go around the track and come back under its own power.”
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