“Be careful”: Carlos Sainz’s F1 boss comments on 2026 impact of regulation changes on drivers

F1 star Carlos Sainz signed with Williams ahead of the 2025 season as the Spaniard was left without a seat after Lewis Hamilton took over his place at Ferrari. The F1 race winner trusted James Vowles’ vision and joined the Grove-based outfit. With the 2026 season not far away, Vowles comments on the impact of regulation changes on drivers.

F1 is set to introduce the biggest changes to the car and power unit possibly since the 2014 regulations changes. The pinnacle of motorsports will introduce the new regulations starting in 2026 with the aim of making the cars small & lighter, while also shifting the focus from Internal combustion engines to electrical energy.

With nearly a 50-50 split between the ICE and the Hybrid system, drivers will actively have to manage energy on top of driving the cars around at 300+ kmph. Questions were raised around the new power unit, with some suggesting that it would be difficult to charge the batteries on circuits with long straight sections or fewer braking zones.

And while all this is going on, the driver is expected to compete at the same time against others. Carlos Sainz’s boss, James Vowles, came out and commented about the impact of the new regulations on the drivers. The Williams TP started by detailing how much more headroom the new car demanded in the simulator.

F1 Grand Prix Of Hungary - Source: Getty

As Carlos Sainz’s boss suggested that things improved the more time a driver spent in the car (simulator), he added,

“So, what I ask everyone to do is be careful. Ask the driver how many times they've driven the simulator as you adjudicate their answer. I guarantee you it's once. It's probably the first initial response. And those that have driven it four or five are like: 'I understand it now.' (via Motorsport)

“Is it refined enough? We've got a lot more work to do to refine it, and we've got to make it easier on the driver, because I think the workload is actually very, very difficult for the driver at the moment. But we have another six months to run before we're there, so I'm confident we can fix that,” added James Vowles

Carlos Sainz demands a change in design philosophy for the 2026 Williams after the poor Hungarian GP performance.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon had a tough weekend at the Hungaroring as both drivers finished outside the points. Williams never looked in good shape to make the points and finished P14 and P15. Sainz revealed how the characteristics of the circuit didn't suit Williams, which has been the case for a long time.

“We have relatively poor aero characteristics in long corners where you need to hold the downforce from entry to mid-corner. We struggle with these kind of things,” said Carlos Sainz

“It needs a very big design philosophy change for the future. We're trying to understand where and what to change to make sure that next year's car is a bit more of an all-rounder and gives us a better platform to work in multiple tracks,” he added

Williams' 2025 competitor is efficient around the straights and high-speed corners, but struggles around the slow and long winding corners.