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Lando Norris has predicted F1 is going to see a “big accident” from the new cars due to the dramatic closing speed in braking zones.

The new-for-2026 challengers raced for the first time in Australia on Sunday, with George Russell coming out on top ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

The early stage of the race saw a dramatic wave of overtakes, including at the front of the grid in the fight for the lead between Russell and Charles Leclerc.

As part of the increase in electrical output this year, drivers are now having to apply extra focus to the battery as they harvest and deploy energy throughout the lap.

But in wheel-to-wheel combat, Norris stated the speed differences are creating a dangerous situation.

“It's chaos, you're going to have a big accident,” Norris told media including RacingNews365.

“Which is a shame that you're just driving, and we're the ones just waiting for something to happen and something to go quite horribly wrong.

“That's not a nice position to be in. There's nothing we can really do about that now.

“It's a shame, it's very artificial, depending on what the power unit decides to do and randomly does at times.

“You just get overtaken by five cars and you can just do nothing about it.”

With the teams and manufacturers putting heavy investment into power units, Norris does not see the situation changing anytime soon.

The reigning champion even suggests the situation could see fans put in danger.

“There's nothing we can change about it, so there's no point saying any more,” he said.

“Depending what people do, you can have a 30, 40, 50 km/h speed [difference].

“When someone hits someone at that speed, you're going to fly and you're going to go over the fence.

“You're gonna do a lot of damage to yourself and maybe to others. It's a pretty horrible thing to think about.”