Fans of Formula 1 are rarely happy. For several seasons the series’ growing followership have complained that passing between cars was woefully lacking, and the on-track action was lackluster. Across the 2026 season so far fans started the year by complaining that it was too easy for cars to pass. Somehow a group of fans decided that F1 cars needed to be less powerful in the process, because too much of the drivetrain output came from woke hybrids or whatever. Unbelievably the series listened and detuned the cars, and we’re right back where we started with cars that can’t pass.
So, rather than complaining about the racing or the regulations on Twitter like most of these dorks, why don’t you make some real suggestions for how F1 could actually get better? We’re going to play a game of hypotheticals here. You’ve been put in charge of the largest and most prestigious motorsport series in the world, you have unilateral control of everything, you can change anything. What’s your solution to the current nightmare of regulatory oversight? How do you fix it?
An even bigger question to answer, will you be a benevolent F1 god? Do you want to introduce more variables to the series in an effort to return drivers to the most important piece of the puzzle? Do you want to increase the engineering challenge in a way that the cars become even more decisive in the season-long points tally? Do you want to create a more level playing field, perhaps by increasing the weight of cars that find the podium too many times? Sound off in the comments below and we’ll discuss it. Then I’ll pick a few of my favorites to recap for everyone else on Monday.
Here’s my solution
There are many things I dislike about modern Formula One regulations, and I’ve tried to reach out to the organizers many times to let them know how I would fix it. Sadly, my advances have gone unreturned. A few years ago I wrote that F1 should only have one rule, a maximum fuel usage ruleset that limits each Grand Prix to a predetermined quantity of gallons. With luck that would allow the racing to be anything but the processional slog that it can sometimes be today. Having the benefit of time and additional wisdom, I think there are two additional rules I’m willing to add to the total.
Given my druthers, if I was the uncontested czar of F1 for a day, I would implement a new set of regulationsThree total rules, that’s all I need. Rule number two, there should be no appreciable aerodynamic downforce as determined in a series-owned wind tunnel. Rule number three, drivers who have not placed in the top three of any previous Formula One Drivers’ Points Championship after five consecutive seasons of trying will be denied a license to continue racing in the series. There are just too many mediocre drivers in the series right now, and I’m kind of sick of it.
So, that should really get the comments section humming right along, eh? You think you can do better than me, drop your ideas below and we’ll turn it into a healthy conversation. At this point there’s kind of no way anything we come up with could be worse than the ruleset that a number of people are paid millions of Euros per year to produce. This year has, admittedly, been much better than years past, certainly the last decade, but I still think we can do even more. Let’s hear your ideas.
