Lando Norris fears problem F1 has not seen for 38 YEARS

Norris during press conference after Las Vegas — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Lando Norris fears problem F1 has not seen for 38 YEARS

F1 is seeing wholesale regulation changes this year

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 5 February 2026 21:13

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Reigning F1 world champion Lando Norris has revealed the 'biggest challenge' of the new 2026 regulation changes, hinting at a problem from the 1980s.

F1 is seeing wholesale regulation changes sweeping into the sport this year, both on the power unit side of things, as well as when it comes to aerodynamic car design.

In terms of the power units, the 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrids are seeing their reliance on electrical energy tripled, meaning we will have an almost exact 50-50 split between electrical power and power from the internal combustion engine.

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This places a heavier responsibility on the driver to manage their battery, with the new energy recovery systems able to harvest twice as much energy per lap, with F1 waving goodbye to the MGU-H.

On top of this, the internal combustion engine will be able to be powered by 100 per cent sustainable fuels, as F1 tries to reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030.

Now, Norris has given an overview of the new regulations in an interview with BBC Sport, hinting that F1 cars will suffer from 'turbo lag'.

Turbo lag is a delay between pressing the accelerator and feeling the engine produce a significant boost in power, and F1 cars in the 1980s suffered greatly with this, before turbos were ditched for the 1989 season onwards.

"The biggest challenge is how you can recover the batteries as well as possible, and that's when it comes down to using the gears, hitting the right revs," Norris said.

"Obviously, you've got some turbo lag now, which we've never really had before. All of these little things have crept back in, but I don't think that changes too much.

"In a perfect world, I probably wouldn't have [all] that in a race car, but it's just F1. Sometimes you have these different challenges."

Will Norris be challenging for the championship in 2026?

The new regulations make it impossible to know which team will be where in the F1 pecking order in 2026, with a shake up in the competitive order expected.

However, with McLaren so dominant in 2025 - winning the constructors' championship by early October - any shake up in the competitive order will likely be bad news for them.

Mercedes are the early favourites following the one and only pre-season testing event that we've had so far, but McLaren may well be helped by the fact that they've got a Mercedes power unit in their cars.

Norris will likely have more threats to his drivers' championship crown in 2026, outside of team-mate Oscar Piastri and four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

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