- Windsor questions whether 2026 F1 rules are reducing the impact of elite driver skill.
- Early evidence suggests a shift in how top drivers extract performance from new cars.
- Changes could reshape competition by reducing gaps between F1’s best and the rest.
Veteran Formula 1 analyst Peter Windsor says the 2026 F1 rules are taking away the edge that defines the sport’s best drivers. Speaking to Cameron on his YouTube podcast, Windsor argued that the new regulations have flattened the gap between elite talent and the rest of the grid.
He pointed to Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen as the clearest examples. Two races into the 2026 season, Windsor said both drivers have lost the very skills that once gave them an advantage.
At the centre of the debate are the new cars, which rely on a near 50-50 split between combustion power and electrical energy. The shift has divided the paddock, with some praising progress and others warning that it changes the core of the sport. Windsor stands firmly in the second group.
The argument at the heart of Windsor’s critique
Windsor’s view is direct. He believes the 2026 F1 rules have removed the tools that allowed top drivers to stand out in difficult cars.
In his analysis, he singled out Leclerc and Verstappen as drivers who built their speed on instinct, car control, and bravery on corner entry. Those traits, he said, no longer deliver the same reward.
“The real problem,” Windsor said, “is that the drivers like Charles and Max no longer really have the same advantage.”
His concern is not just about performance. It is about identity. He argues that Formula 1 now risks turning unique drivers into similar ones.
The biggest shift comes from how the new power units work. Drivers must now harvest electrical energy as they approach corners.
At first, Windsor thought this phase would reward elite skill. He expected drivers like Leclerc and Verstappen to gain time under braking and corner entry.
He now says that hope was misplaced.
“I was hoping and thought that they probably would,” he said, “because that harvesting business into corners appeared initially to be something they could do more with, but it isn’t. It’s such a basic thing, and they’ve got to be so deliberate in the way the engines are set up that they can’t really gain anything there, being as good as they are into the first phase of a corner.”
Instead of pushing the limit, drivers must manage energy. They lift earlier, think more, and attack less.
Critics of the 2026 F1 rules say this rewards control over instinct. Windsor agrees, but goes further. He says it directly removes the advantage of the best drivers.
Hamilton’s resurgence, explained
According to Windsor, this shift also helps explain the early-season form of Lewis Hamilton.
In 2025, Hamilton struggled quite a bit in the SF-25. He finished far behind Leclerc (86 points behind the Monagasque driver) and failed to reach the podium even once. The car had a sharp, unstable rear that demanded precise control.
Leclerc handled that trait pretty well, while Hamilton seemed to struggle with it more. In 2026, that difference has shrunk. Windsor believes the new rules have played a role.
Hamilton has looked more comfortable and competitive in the opening races. Windsor cautions that this is not just about improved form. It is also about a car that no longer favours Leclerc’s strengths.
Windsor, who is careful to declare his admiration for Hamilton before making his point, said:
“And that’s why, you know… I’m a Lewis fan… before anybody gets upset about this, but that is why Lewis is looking quite good alongside Charles now.”
“Because that whole business of what Charles used to be able to do in a very difficult car, which was a very, very light back end, flick oversteer, very pointy car that Charles could always get the lap time out of, i.e. last year’s Ferrari, which Lewis was finding so difficult to drive. That’s gone away now because the whole thing has been dumbed down by this business of generating power into the corners.”
The equalisation problem
Windsor sees a clear pattern.
Under the old rules, Leclerc could extract lap time from a difficult car. He thrived with a “pointy” front end and a loose rear. That skill created a real gap.
Under the new rules, that gap has narrowed.
Drivers now follow similar processes into corners. Energy harvesting shapes their approach. The focus shifts to rotation and exit, where differences are smaller.
“Lewis is basically doing the same thing as Charles now,” Windsor observes, “and then it’s just a question of rotation point and exit, which Lewis obviously can still do incredibly well, and that’s why he’s looking quite good.”
The result shows on track. Hamilton and Leclerc have already fought closely, including a tense battle in China that drew praise from George Russell.
Windsor does not deny that the racing is exciting. But he questions why the gap has closed so much.
“These regulations have neutralised the talent of Charles and Max,” he said.
The wider context: Netflix has won, Windsor says
Windsor links this change to a broader shift in Formula 1.
He believes the sport now caters more to new fans than to long-time followers. He points to the rise of Drive to Survive as a key influence.
“The elections are over, and Netflix has won. The Netflix generation now determines what we get to see in Formula 1,” he said via GPToday.
In his view, the 2026 F1 rules reflect that change. They aim to make racing closer and easier to follow. But he fears they also remove the fine margins that define greatness.
Even so, Windsor still finds moments to admire. He praised Hamilton’s driving through Turn 16 in China as “pure class.”
That moment stood out because it felt rare. A flash of skill that broke through the noise surrounding the regulations.
Windsor’s larger point remains. If Formula 1 reduces the gap between the best and the rest, it risks losing what made those drivers special in the first place.
