The complexity of the 2026 car terrifies everyone… except Alonso: “It still seems too automatic”

We have been telling you how intimidating the 2026 single-seater is, which will mark the beginning of the new regulatory period. A car that changes completely, but above all complicates the management of the power unit, both from the engineers' and the driver's perspective.

This is something that the drivers themselves have talked about in recent weeks, acknowledging that those who are able to pay attention to multiple tasks at once while driving will have an advantage. And James Vowles, director of Williams, has gone a bit further and warned of the possibility that the new cars will exceed the capacity of those who have to drive them.

“I miss the time when we had more freedom in the cockpit to change the parameters or the performance of the car”

Fernando Alonso is not worried

But at least one driver on the grid denies being concerned about this prospect, considering that they could even be more complicated, more 'manual'.

“We have to wait and see how the cars perform and how difficult or easy they are to drive,” Fernando Alonso points out initially. “But yes, I miss the time when we had more freedom in the cockpit to change the parameters or the performance of the car. Before, we used to play a bit with the engine revs, certain laps per weekend we had maximum power.”

Fernando Alonso has lived through several very different eras and regulations. And his experience leads him to long for the years when there was more freedom of action. “Then the ERS was introduced and we had six seconds of freedom to play with that”.

“So we didn’t always use the same optimal positions; that was only used in qualifying. Then, in the race, different strategies were played to overtake or defend against the cars coming from behind. So yes, I miss those days,” reiterates the Aston Martin driver

Perspectives for 2026

Looking ahead to 2025, the management of the energy produced by the hybrid power unit will be crucial, and active aerodynamics will also arrive. But Fernando Alonso laments that much of it will be automated and managed by the electronic control unit.

“I don’t know if next year we will have some of that,” the Asturian states. “For me, it still seems too automatic. The car automatically goes into straight mode or maximum aerodynamic load mode, and the energy is distributed more or less automatically, just like this year. So I still miss a bit of freedom, or even more, for the drivers.”

We will have to see how the drivers adapt to the big change next season, but everything indicates that the need to think more inside the single-seater is something that will always be positive for Fernando Alonso.

Fotos: Aston Martin F1