F1 2026: Media access to drivers cut, starting at Australian Grand Prix

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F1 Drivers

FIA confirms cut in media access to F1 drivers in 2026

We will hear less from drivers during Grand Prix weekends in 2026

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 3 March 2026 11:55

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The FIA have tweaked media commitment regulations ahead of the 2026 F1 season and that means a cut in the access outlets will have to drivers.

F1's governing body have been refining their sporting regulations ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, with the power unit rules tweaked last week following a vote between the power unit manufacturers to clear up the geometric compression ratio controversy.

The 2026 season kicks off in Melbourne this weekend, with drivers and teams descending on Albert Park for the start of F1's new era.

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Wholesale regulation changes have swept into the sport, with an extended testing programme in January and February yielding mixed results for the 11 teams.

And amid all these changes in terms of the regulations, the FIA last weekend also made a few tweaks to the sporting and technical wording in their regulation documents.

One of those changes include the fact that only one driver and one senior competitor representative now have to be made available to media following FP2 on the Friday of a race weekend, rather than all drivers.

In the sporting regulations, it can clearly be seen where the 'all drivers' has been crossed out and the new wording put in. They have to be available for five minutes, and it must be within one hour and 15 minutes of the session end for drivers, and one hour and 30 minutes of the session end for the senior competitor representatives.

However, at each race weekend, teams must rotate which driver it is that are put up for this media requirement.

FIA take Mercedes dominance off the table?

For much of the winter off-season, Mercedes have been thought to be the favourites to claim both championship titles in 2026, with their geometric compression ratio power unit quirk one of the reasons given for their predicted superiority over the rest of the field.

But a recent ruling from the FIA means that Mercedes will have to change their power unit before the eighth race weekend of the season, taking away the quirk which was believed to be worth up to 0.3 second per lap.

This tweak in the FIA technical regulations was made following a vote after meetings between power unit manufacturers and experts.

Honda, Red Bull, Ferrari, Audi and Mercedes are the five power unit manufacturers in the sport this year, and together they passed the vote which will see geometric compression ratios measured at both ambient and operational temperatures from the Monaco Grand Prix onwards.

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