Safety must come first.
That’s the message from Liam Lawson as Formula One conceded its new 2026 regulations needed to change before the season returns in Miami next month.
Since Formula One first announced its regulation changes, seeing cars geared towards a 50-50 split between electric power and combustion engines, drivers have warned of the possible dangers those adjustments could bring.
The regulations are viewed so negatively by the drivers that four-time world champion Max Verstappen has even plunged his future in the sport into doubt due to his discontent.
As a result, Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, has announced nine tweaks to the 2026 regulations, as a means of reducing the risk of large speed differentials seen at Suzuka, and improving qualifying sessions by “reducing excessive harvesting and encouraging more consistent flat-out driving”.
Before the season took a month-long hiatus due to the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix being cancelled owing to the war in Iran, those safety fears were realised in Japan.
At Suzuka, Haas’ Ollie Bearman was forced into evasive action behind Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, and hit the wall with a force of 50G, having been driving at more than 300km/h.
Bearman was forced into the move after Colapinto suddenly experienced a 50km/h loss of speed, as his car needed to recharge its battery. The English driver was cleared of any serious injury but was seen in clear pain, limping from the wreckage of his car.
Speaking before the changes were announced, Lawson said that while drivers can tend to point out negative features in any set of regulations, avoiding what happened to Bearman should be the priority.
“There are always going to be things that we want from the car,” Lawson told media. “As racing drivers, we complain about everything, literally. That’ll never change.
“On the regulation side, I think the biggest thing right now is probably the safety aspect of it, especially with what we saw in Japan. That’s something that we know we want to avoid, obviously, in the future, going forwards.
“On the performance side, that’s something that obviously will always evolve. If you look at the other regulations, the start of it, there’s been a huge development over there for the five-year process that the regulations have been out, so I’m sure these will obviously evolve and get faster.
“I’m sure we’ll find ways to make the cars nicer to drive, or I hope that we do. At the moment, especially in qualifying, we’re trying to put the car on the limit and extract everything out of it.
“At the moment, it feels like we’re not able to do that. I think that’s really the first focus for us that we would like out of the cars, but I think really that safety side probably comes first more than anything.”
This isn’t the first time Lawson has warned of the effects of the new regulations, either.
Speaking to the Herald in Melbourne before the 2026 season, the Racing Bulls driver admitted his anxiety over what impacts the regulations would bring to this year’s championship.
Almost prophetically, Lawson was the first driver to experience the challenges in a race, when his battery failed to fire at lights out, seeing him finish 13th after qualifying in eighth as the best driver outside the top four teams.
Ironically, Lawson was arguably the biggest benefactor of Bearman’s crash in Japan, as the resulting safety car gave him the ability for an effective free pit stop to consolidate his place in the top 10 and come home ninth.
Formula One resumes in Miami at the start of next month.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.