FIA make major F1 change ahead of 2026 Australian Grand Prix

The Australian Grand Prix has been forced to make a significant change for this year's event.

The Melbourne event will kick off the season this weekend as the new cars, built under a fresh set of technical regulations, will make their competitive debuts.

Among the vast changes, an 11th team will join the grid as Cadillac prepares for its first-ever grand prix event.

However, organisers have been forced to reduce the pit lane speed limit in order to accommodate the extra personnel in the pit lane.

Having previously been set at 80 km/h, it was been dramatically reduced to 60 km/h for the upcoming weekend, which could have major ramifications on strategic decisions.

"It's certainly a challenge," Australian GP's chief events officer Tom Mottram told motorsport.com when asked about the congested pit lane. 

"Our pit building and pitlane are probably one of the smaller ones on the calendar at the moment, so we've done a lot of work with F1 throughout the year since we've known the 11th team is coming on board to make sure we've got additional team hospitality, additional freight storage, additional pitwall room and things like that.

"The one thing that we can't really change, unfortunately, at least this year, is the garage space.”

However, with Albert Parl having a long-term contract in place to host F1, Mottram suggested that its measures this year may only be a short-term compromise.

”So it is a bit of a one-year stop-gap where it will be a bit of a squeeze,” he said. 

“It also meant we've had to reduce our pitlane speed from 80km/h to 60km/h, just because it will be a little bit tighter for teams to pull in. 

“But we wouldn't change that for the excitement that will come with the 11th team in Cadillac."