F1 2026 Regulations: How big are the new cars?

F1 2026 Explained

How big are the new F1 cars? 2026 regulations explained

F1 cars have changed in size in 2026 as part of the sweeping new regulations

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 2 March 2026 16:57 Updated: 10:05

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2026's F1 cars will look and sound a little different when they line up for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

The new power unit rules mean that there is a heavier reliance on electrical energy within the power units, and they will sound different than in 2025, but these new power units have also led to completely revised chassis designs.

F1 cars in 2026 look different too, with reduced dimensions and a narrower front wing design compared to F1 of the past.

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Cars are smaller, lighter, narrower and more nimble, rule changes that are designed to improve racing between the cars and supposedly lead to more opportunities to overtake, particularly on narrow street circuits.

But how small are the new 2026 cars?

F1 2026 Regulations: How much does an F1 car weigh?

How big is an F1 car?

F1 cars have a wheelbase of 340 centimetres, or 3.4 meters. This has been reduced by 20cm, condensing the cars for 2026 to try and make them more nimble and better to drive.

The width of the F1 cars in 2026 has also been reduced, and they are now 190 centimetres in width (1.9 meters).

This represents a reduction of 10 centimetres length-wise, and so the dimensions of the 2026 cars are 340cm x 190cm.

How big are F1 car tyres?

Of course, a condensed chassis design is likely to lead to smaller tyres, and the new Pirelli tyres have been shrunk in order to fit the new cars.

While the diameter of the tyre has remained at 18 centimetres, the width has been reduced.

Front tyres have decreased in width by 25mm, while the rear tyres are 30mm narrower. This means that the total width of the front tyres are now 275mm.

Rear tyres are bigger on an F1 car than the front tyres, and in 2026 rear tyre width is sat at 375mm.

How much does an F1 car weigh?

All of these changes mean that F1 cars are now lighter than they have been in previous years, again helping with their nimbleness.

Overall, an F1 car in 2026 has a minimum weight of 768kg, this is without fuel and is in an ideal world for F1 teams, with them likely being heavier than this in the early weeks of the season.

That minimum weight has been reduced by 32kg compared to 2025, in an attempt to reverse the direction of travel that had seen 200kg of weight added to F1 cars in the last 20 years.

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