F1 and FIA receive 'independent' instruction ahead of critical talks

Bernie Collins and Karun Chandhok have highlighted both potential solutions and structural challenges within the decision-making process surrounding the key April meetings between the FIA, F1 and the teams, with the 2026 regulations under considerable scrutiny.

The discussions, though already planned for the unexpected spring break, come after Oliver Bearman's heavy crash during the Japanese Grand Prix, which has further sharpened criticism of the current generation of cars and their behaviour.

The F1 Commission is set to convene tomorrow, 9 April, with further regulatory talks scheduled before the Miami Grand Prix in early May.

These meetings are expected to address growing concerns over energy deployment, closing speeds and overall drivability under the new power unit regulations.

Speaking on Sky Sports F1, after the Haas driver's crash at Suzuka, Collins outlined that much of the current focus ahead of those meetings has been placed on qualifying performance, rather than race conditions.

"There's lots of discussion," she said. "Well, actually, annoyingly, I think the discussion has been centred on how we can improve qualifying.

"There are a few ways of doing that: you either reduce the amount of battery that they can charge or recharge through the laps.

"It's more like what we had last year, which would reduce overall lap time, which is maybe not great."

Collins also pointed to increasing fuel flow as an alternative solution to rebalance the power unit characteristics, shifting emphasis back towards the internal combustion engine.

"You could increase the fuel flow, which is one way of doing it, so that the engine produces more of the power," she explained.

"So that would get you back much closer to the type of racing that you had last year, and not such a big difference in closing speeds, because you wouldn’t need to harvest energy into the battery a little bit more."

What are the issues?

However, she warned that such changes would not affect teams equally, raising concerns about competitive fairness.

"The difficulty with increasing the fuel flow — there are a few difficulties, she began before adding: "One is that it is not going to evenly affect all the teams. So some teams will have more of an ability to do that than others, because they've all got different fuels.

"Some teams will not have their radiators set up for that. Their engine may not react well with that. Their fuel tank, for the race, may not be big enough to do that. So there are lots of issues."

Collins further highlighted the inherent challenge facing the F1 Commission, where teams inevitably push solutions that align with their own competitive interests.

"Everyone’s going to come, and I think what Carlos [Sainz] is alluding to there is that every team comes with their agenda.

"Yes, of course, we want to improve the racing. Yes, of course, we want to make it as safe as we possibly can; that should be front and foremost all the time.

"But every team knows if they have an advantage or disadvantage with the rule that they are suggesting and putting forward... of course, that happens."

Her comments echo recent criticism from Carlos Sainz, who warned that driver concerns risk being overlooked amid political and competitive pressures within the sport’s governance structure.

Chandhok agreed, stressing the need for stronger independent oversight from the sport's governing bodies.

"And that’s why it needs a strong, independent voice," he added. "That's what he is saying: The FIA and F1 are, and should be, the independent voice...

"To Bernie's point, I think it's a neutral voice that needs to be strong enough to come up with ideas here."