FIA announces last-minute F1 qualifying change on eve of 2026 season

Good news, racing fans! You get to see more F1 qualifying in 2026.

Don't run into the streets celebrating just yet though, because it's not necessarily as huge a change as that may sound.

The FIA's updated regulations for 2026 have some interesting little nuggets in them – no more mandatory two stops in Monaco, for example – but one that especially caught the eye was the lengthening of Q3.

The final top-ten shootout in qualifying has historically been standardised at 12 minutes, but the cream of the crop will now have 13 minutes to battle it out for pole. Yeah, we told you it wasn't as seismic a change as it sounded.

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Reasons for F1 rule change unclear

The exact rule now reads, with the former version struck through: "After a seven (7) minute an eight (8) minute break the session will resume for thirteen (13) twelve (12) minutes (“Qualifying 3” or “Q3”), and the ten (10) remaining F1 Cars will be permitted on the track."

It's not clear exactly why this change has been made, but it's unlikely that it will result in teams trying to squeeze in a third run with the benefit of that extra minute.

It's possible that the motivation is to try to avoid the comical spectacle of drivers failing to get around to the start line in time to set their final lap time. If that is the case, it seems misguided – those cars didn't fail to make it round because the session was too short, that happened because of a tactical decision to send them out as late as possible.

It's hard to see into the future, but it's entirely possible that all this rule change does is give fans an extra 60 seconds of watching cars sat in their garages on a Saturday afternoon.

When does the 2026 F1 season start?

The 2026 season starts in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix and the first qualifying session will take place Saturday March 7 at 4pm local time (AEDT), 5am GMT and 12am ET.

The first race of the year takes place on March 8 at 3pm local time (AEDT), 4am GMT, and 11pm ET.

There are, however, some weather concerns in Melbourne at the moment. Weather warnings have been put in place throughout the state of Victoria, which Melbourne lies in.

Thunderstorms, heavy rain and flash flooding are expected in the region on Tuesday, just three days out from the start of the grand prix weekend, and this could affect teams and paddock personnel as they arrive to set up their stalls for the weekend. Watch this space.

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