The Formula One regulations, made and enforced by the FIA, are rules that govern car specifications, racing procedures, scoring, and penalties in Formula One. The primary goals of the Formula One regulations are to ensure driver safety and fairness in competition. As of 2026, the regulations are designed with an additional goal of promoting environmental sustainability in the sport.
There are two main types of regulations; technical and sporting. Technical regulations are related to car specifications, such as the chassis or the engine. Meanwhile, sporting regulations involve race procedures and set rules that pertain to the sport as a whole. There are also financial regulations that place restrictions on the budgets of teams and power unit manufacturers, and operational regulations that dictate factory testing procedures.
The regulations in Formula One are updated by the FIA on a yearly basis. Typically, only minor changes are made, such as in order to close loopholes, improve safety, or adjust the scoring system. However, major regulation changes have also occurred, such as in 2014, with the introduction of 1.6-litre V6 turbo-hybrid engines, and in 2026, with the significantly increased electrification of the engine and the introduction of new power unit and aerodynamic modes. Such major regulation changes are announced years in advance, to give teams and manufacturers time to plan and design the new cars.
Current rules and regulations
Technical
Chassis An F1 car can be no more than 190 cm wide and 95 cm tall. Though there is no maximum length, other rules set indirect limits on these dimensions, and nearly every aspect of the car carries size regulations; consequently the various cars tend to be very close to the same size. The car and driver must together weigh at least 724 kg as of 2026.
The car must only have four wheels mounted externally of the body work with only the front 2 steered and only the back 2 driven. The maximum distance allowed between the front and rear wheels (the wheelbase) is 340 cm.
The main chassis contains a "safety cell" which includes the cockpit, a structure designed to reduce impact directly in front of the cockpit, and the fuel cell directly behind the cockpit. Additionally, the car must contain roll structures behind and ahead of the driver. The driver must be able to enter and exit the cockpit without any adjustments other than removing the steering wheel. Since , the car must include the halo, which is a curved titanium bar placed above the driver's head that prevents them from sustaining any injuries.
There are also mandatory crash test standards. There is a head-on impact into a steel barrier; "average deceleration must not exceed 25g", with a maximum 60g for a minimum 3 milliseconds, with no damage to the chassis beyond the nose section.Noble and Hughes, p.50 The same chassis must then sustain a rear impact from a sled travelling at , with no damage in front of the rear axle. The roll hoop is not permitted to crush beyond , and structural failure is only permitted in the top of the body.Noble and Hughes, p.51 Side impacts by a object at must be decelerated at less than 20g, and absorb no less than 15% and no more than 35% of the total energy; can not be exceeded more than 3 milliseconds. The steering wheel must survive the impact of an -diameter object at with no deformation of the wheel or damage to the quick-release mechanism.
In addition, there are "squeeze tests" on the cockpit sides, fuel tank, and nosebox. The cockpit must survive a force with no failure; for the fuel tank, is applied. A maximum deformation is allowed. For the cockpit rim, the figures are and . The nosebox must withstand for 30 seconds without failing.
Electrical systems Onboard electrical and computer systems, once inspected at the start of the season, may not be changed without prior approval. Electronic starters and launch control are forbidden. The computers must contain a telemetric accident data reporting system.
Transmission Continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) have been banned since 1994, two weeks after very successful tests in the Williams FW15C in 1993 that proved CVTs had the potential to keep other teams at a competitive disadvantage for a long time due to the difficulties of designing sufficiently strong belts for use in CVTs. It was speculated that the use of a CVT alone led to an advantage of several seconds per lap. CVTs have never been used in Formula 1 races. A rule was added in 1994 that stated that gearboxes must have anywhere from 2 to 7 discrete gear ratios, alongside a clause that explicitly bans CVTs. Active suspensions were also banned in 1994 due to safety concerns by the FIA over ever-higher speeds, and other "driver aids" were also banned that same year, including 4-wheel steering, which was tested and found to provide negligible if any reduction in lap times.
Since 2014, transmissions with 8 gear ratios and 1 reverse gear ratio are required in Formula 1 cars.
Engine
+ Engine specifications Year 2000–2005 2006–2013 2014–20252026–present Size 3.0-litre 2.4-litre 1.6-litre1.6-litre Type of engine V10 V8 V6 (turbo-hybrid)V6 (turbo-hybrid) Fuel-limit per race No limit (approx. 180 – 200 kg / 250 – 290 L) No limit (approx. 130 – 160 kg / 190 – 230 L) 100 – 110 kg (130 – 145 L)No limit Fuel-flow rate limit No limit No limit 100 kg/h above 10,500 RPM3000 MJ/h above 10,500 RPM Fuel-injection pressure limit No limit No limit 500 bar350 bar Engine RPM limit No limit 18,000 – 20,500 15,00015,000 Power Output 770 – 1000 hp 730 – 840 hp 750 – 1000 hpapprox. 1000 hp
The engines, now commonly referred to as power units, are divided into 6 components: the internal combustion engine (ICE); turbocharger (TC); Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic (MGU-K), which harvests energy that would normally be wasted under braking; Energy Store (ES), which functions as a battery, storing the energy gathered by the MGU-K; Control Electronics (CE), which includes the Electronic Control Unit and software used to manage the entire power unit; and Exhaust (EX). From 2014 to 2025, there was a seventh component called the MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit-Heat), which collected energy in the form of heat as it was expelled through the exhaust, but it was removed from the 2026 regulations due to being overly costly and complex for new teams to develop.
In 2026, each driver may use up to four ICEs, Turbochargers, and Exhaust sets, and up to three MGU-Ks, Energy Stores, and Control Electronics throughout the season; however, from 2027 onward, this allocation will decrease to only three and two respectively, unless it is the manufacturer's first year supplying power units since the onset of the 2026 regulations. A grid place penalty will be enforced upon drivers who exceed these allocation limits, once for each additional component at the first event where the replacement element is used.
Devices designed to inject any substance into the cylinders other than air and fuel (petrol) are forbidden, as are variable-length intake and exhaust systems. The crankshaft and camshafts must be made from an iron-based alloy. The use of carbon composite materials for the cylinder block, cylinder head and pistons is not allowed. Separate starting devices may be used to start engines in the pits and on the grid. If the engine is fitted with an anti-stall device, this must be set to cut the engine within ten seconds in the event of an accident.
Formula One engine technology was greatly changed from the 2014 season with the introduction of the 1.6-litre turbocharged V6-hybrid engine. Along with this came the introduction of the ERS (Energy Recovery System). This system works similarly to KERS. With the 2014–2025 era power units, drivers got a full-time boost of about 160 bhp (120 kW) from electric motors used in conjunction with the internal combustion engine (generating around 1,000 bhp in total) instead of a 6-second bank of extra power per lap. With the 2026 regulation change, the amount of electrical power has been greatly increased to about 470 bhp (350 kW) for an approximately 50-50 split between combustion and electrical power. The fuel flow rate, formerly measured in kg/h, is now measured more precisely as a fuel energy flow rate in terms of MJ/h.
Refuelling From 2010, refuelling is no longer permitted during the race and now every car starts with a full fuel load. The 2010 season cars were about 22 cm longer than 2009 cars to accommodate the enlarged fuel tank this necessitated.
Tyres
Formula 1 has contracted a single supplier of tyres since the 2007 season. The supplier (Pirelli since ) supplies 6 specifications of slick dry-weather tyres (C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6), of which 3 compounds are provided at each race (described at that race as "soft", "medium" and "hard"). Pirelli introduced a softer C6 compound for the 2025 season.
From to , 2 types of dry tyres were provided at each race weekend, known as the Prime and the Option. Teams are supplied with more sets of Prime tyres than Option tyres for use throughout the weekend. The Prime tyre is usually harder and therefore more durable than the Option tyre, while the Option tyre provides more grip and therefore allows faster lap times when the tyres are fresh. At some events the selection is reversed, with the Option tyre being harder than the Prime. The combination of longer lasting and faster tyres adds an element to each car's race strategy. Additionally, 2 wet-weather compounds are provided by the supplier: intermediate and full wet.
From onward, 3 dry tyre compounds are brought to a race weekend. Since 2019, regardless of tyre compound, one tyre is designated as soft, one as medium, and one as hard. One set of the softest tyres is set aside for Q3 and two sets of the middle and the hardest tyres are kept for the race. Each compound is differentiated by a colour-coded band painted around the tyre's sidewall including the supplier's logo: red for soft, yellow for medium, white for hard, green for intermediate, and blue for full wet.
Competitors are allowed only a limited number of tyre sets during a race weekend: 13 dry, 4 intermediate, 3 wet. However, if the race weekend includes a sprint race, only 12 sets of dry tyres are allocated. Each tyre must be marked with a unique identifier for tracking and scrutinising during a race event. During the practice sessions drivers are limited to the use of 3 sets of dry tyres, and certain sets must be returned to the supplier before the second and third sessions. From 2014 to 2021, if qualifying and starting the race on dry tyres, drivers who completed a lap during the third period of qualifying (the top ten) were required to start the race on the tyre set with which they recorded their fastest time during the second period. Any cars that qualified outside the top ten may have started the race on any remaining set of tyres. This rule was removed prior to the 2022 season. Cars must race on any 2 dry compounds during a race unless intermediate or wet tyres have been used by that car in that race.
Prior to qualifying, wet and intermediate tyres may only be used if the track is judged wet by the race director. Starting the race behind the safety car due to heavy rain requires cars to be fitted with wet tyres until they make a pit stop.
Heaters may be applied only to the outside of tyres.
Aerodynamics Historically, constructors were able to build Formula One cars around the concept of ground effect. Following the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna in the season, skid blocks were mandated to increase the ride height, reduce the impact of ground effect, and slow the cars down. However, from 2022 to 2025, ground effect was re-introduced to the Formula One regulations. The 2026 regulations have once again reduced the impact of ground effect, with flatter floors and an increased ride height.