Hamilton warns new F1 rules will transform Silverstone racing

At Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton said the circuit will be "a completely different circuit" once Formula 1's 2026 power-unit rules take effect, warning that the British Grand Prix's quickest corners will leave the cars short of usable energy. On the high-speed Northamptonshire track, he said the effect will be most obvious through Copse, Maggotts, Becketts and Stowe, where drivers may have to lift and coast rather than attack flat out.

Formula 1's 2026 package raises the electrical side of the power unit from 120kW to 350kW and cuts the engine element to around 400kW. It also lifts braking-energy recovery to about 8.5 megajoules per lap, with advanced sustainable fuels and a target of more than 1,000 horsepower while using less fuel overall. On a lap like Silverstone, where long, fast sections offer few heavy braking points, Hamilton warned that drivers could be running with not much more than half the engine's full power at key moments.

Silverstone runs the event from Thursday, 2 July, to Sunday, 5 July, with Sprint Qualifying on Friday, 3 July, the Sprint race and Qualifying on Saturday, 4 July, and the Grand Prix itself at 15:00 BST on Sunday, 5 July. The circuit, built on the former RAF Silverstone airfield in Northamptonshire, hosted the first Formula 1 World Championship race in 1950 and now stages four days of F1 action, live entertainment and support races.

Hamilton has won the British Grand Prix there nine times, a circuit record, and Silverstone said five British F1 drivers were on the grid and hundreds of thousands of spectators were expected. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso said the weekend could be "quite sad" under the new energy-deployment rules, while Mercedes' George Russell said the changes could make some tracks more difficult and others quicker than in previous seasons.