FIA announce major F1 rule changes after key meeting

The FIA has announced a number of changes to Formula 1's sporting regulations, starting from the 2026 season.

The World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) has been meeting for the final time, with the body approving seven major changes to the rules, including extending practice sessions on Sprint weekends impacted by a red flag.

On Sprint weekends, drivers only have a single session of practice to fine-tune their cars, with the clock continuing to count down in the event of a red flag, thus limiting on-track time ahead of Sprint Qualifying. 

It has therefore been decided that "an allowance has been made for FP1 at a Sprint event to be extended following a red flag, to ensure that competitors are afforded relevant practice time.

Other changes made include the confirmation that there will be just a single pe-season test from the 2027 season onwards, tyre limitations in Sprint Qualifying not being removed in case of wet conditions being declared and out-of-competition tyre testing car specifications being amended due to the new breed of car for 2026.

Here, the operational personnel for each team trackside will increase, for 2026, to 60 with race suspension and restart procedures being simplified.

Finally, updates have been made to the Driver Adjustable Bodywork usage, to ensure "congruity" with the technical regulations. 

Elsewhere, a new chapter of the overall regulations has been created, taking the total number of chapters to six. 

The new so-called 'Section A' "creates consistency between all other sections to avoid duplications or contradictions."

The Sections of the Regulations are: 

• Section A: General Regulatory Provisions
• Section B: Sporting Regulations
• Section C: Technical Regulations
• Section D: Financial Regulations (for F1 Teams)
• Section E: Financial Regulations (for PU Manufacturers)
• Section F: Operational Regulations