Re: When is the earliest and latest F1 26 DLC will be out

For the F126 dlc EA games and Codemasters should try to come as close as possible to the real F1 cars. So what you suggest is quite impossible. Straight line speed, another floor, the use of the battery, always back wing to open .......is what it should be. In my opinion, if you want to develop a real F1 game with a correct ranking and license level this should be without assists as in real life. Assists could be very usefull in time tria, specials  and practice, to learn the ropes. 

For the F1 26 DLC I’d be surprised if there is much if any changes to the game, the cars and the way they drive beyond new liveries, the list of races in order, and the current driver’s roster

Anything close to the new regs will appear in the F1 27 edition

I completely agree that emulating the current regulations will kill interest in the 2026 edition. I'm sure the FIA, being touchy over having botched the formula, will insist their regulations be emulated accurately. I hope, however, that EA gives us the option to disable that formula and drive with 100% internal combustion power at our discretion.  This has never been a hard core sim and is a simcade.  Those of us who want to race the arcade should have the option to do so.  Those who want the realism of driving slower through corners to harvest that energy on the straights should have that option as well.  For me, if EA adopts the new regs without offering an option to them, I just won't buy the game, just like I won't be  watching any more F1 races if they don't make some major changes this month to improve the racing.

Since f1 26 is only a DLC and not a stand-alone game, I imagine we will have to wait until 27 for them to fully recreate the new regulations since they're stuck working with the framework of F1 25. That said, I do think they'll change some things to try and emulate the new cars.

1. Reducing the weight of the cars should be easy since there would already be internal values for it due the R&D upgrades in career mode.
2. Allow the existing DRS system to be used anywhere to mimic active aero.
3. Make the ERS system more aggressive in terms of depletion and harvesting rate to mimic the battery deployment in the real cars.

I doubt there will be an option to toggle the regulations off entirely, but I imagine there will be optional assists to help manage things.

Thanks for your thoughtful post as I've been puzzled how these omnishambles regulations might be implemented. These new regulations make me glad that I choose to challenge myself by turning off the racing line instead of doing things like turning off the ERS assist. I really don't envy the developers right now.

Russw1952: that is an interesting idea to just turn off the ERS. However, I think you are right that the real-world F1 is in damage control mode right now and will be upset with EA if they did something like this. I wouldn't be surprised if the contract between F1 and EA clearly prohibits your idea. 

I'm hopeful that this April 9th meeting will find a solution to this problem, but I have a bad feeling that F1 will just double-down until the next regulation cycle in 2030.  I'm just so disappointed in F1 right now and I think people are exaggerating the problems for F1 if they stopped using hybrid engines. Humanity needs to reduce fossil fuel usage, but I also think it's okay if F1 continues to use non-hybrid engines.  

F1 games should always strive to be as realistic as possible, closely resembling real Formula 1. I also don't see what the objections are to intelligent energy management. Furthermore, I think that just before a DLC release, one shouldn't demand something that would drastically alter the gameplay and handling, because it wouldn't be nearly as simple if the development team had focused on the new regulations.
Adapting to new rules and driving styles is commonplace in motorsport and should also be reflected in games about racing series.
Yes, you will go into the curves a bit slower, but in the end you will also be able to take the curves more cleanly, which should be particularly interesting in online races.
Beginners in particular should be able to get closer to the more experienced among us, and this could make the game and online racing more fun for beginners, which would especially benefit online leagues in filling their lobbies even at the end of a season.
But let's wait and see what the developers have done in the DLC; so far we don't know much about it.

The problem EA is facing is what are the regulations they are supposed to implement. The upcoming April 9th meeting could change quite a few things, and given the reaction to the new regulations, it is not unreasonable to expect other changes later. The size and weight of the car (as well as tire size/width and floor of the car) are pretty straightforward. Additionally, active aerodynamics seem to be pretty straightforward as well, although the rules of when they can be applied is supposedly part of the April 9th discussion. 

It is the electric energy side of things that is unclear. Rules have already been changed once for qualifying. The interaction of the combustion engine power and electric energy power is the challenge, and at this point, is unbelievably confusing. In terms of watching a race, unless you can see the battery levels all the time, it is hard to follow what is happening in the race - and makes watching the race not very enjoyable at all. 

So the challenge for EA is at what point do they think the regulations have settled down enough to try and provide a reasonable facsimile of the 26 season rules environment. 

I personally think it may be more cosmetic for this year. Which yes they can easily implement the straight mode and overtake modes, i think the battery levels and harvesting is going to be far too complex. 

F1 27 i think will be the true reflection of the game 

Cpayne32​ The challenge potentially for for the F1 27 game is that there maybe an adjustment by the FIA in the engine regulations at a scale that EA will have to observe quite a few races at the beginning of the 27 season before they can reasonably come close to start trying to model the car's behavior. 

The Norris incident where he didn't want to pass Hamilton near the end of the race but the battery power took over and passed him anyway (and then Hamilton immediately passed after that) - or Hamilton being told to reduce acceleration by 15% on corner exits to increase his overall speeds or the Bearman crash - reflects the importance of the April 9th meeting. Hopefully they can fix this, but some have implied it may take another major revision of the technical regulations. 

I wonder if the F2 2026 cars will be available on the day the 2026 DLC is released or if they will be released later. Adding F3 cars would be nice. 

I expect Madrid will be included, hopefully Portimão as well if it's confirmed it will replace one of the canceled GPs.

The biggest question for me is the price, though. Charging full game price for a DLC that includes liveries and a couple of tracks won't go down well with the majority of players.

They usually release the f2 cars for the current season around September time so i suspect that may be a similar case.

F3 cars i don’t expect to see but could be something for F1 27.

As for the price, i don’t think it will be over say £30

Considering the issues with the real regulations, I'd be quite happy for them just to add the 2 extra cars on the grid, and give us the new 2026 liveries, teams, drivers and car model cosmetic shape with the F1 25 performance and they charge £10 for it. 

The real 2026 regulations are a real mess and I really do not think they will translate to a video game very well. It's far too complex of a  change just for DLC. 

We all want "shiny new next thing", but be serious, do you think the casual player will enjoy the 2026 cars as they are right now?

The FIA announced the changes to the 2026 regulations a few hours ago. I'm just curious for everybody's reaction who plays the F1 games. I'm relieved that FIA decided to make changes. I realize that my dream of non-hybrid V8s and bringing back DRS probably isn't going to happen, but I can learn to live with these modifications. I was worried they would double down and spend the next few years smearing Verstappen and other critics.

p.s. To clarify, I still have some distrust of the FIA right now because they ignored all the people that warned the Bearman crash would happen. Also, I think we all need to show some patience with EA and Codemasters right now because the FIA has made it really hard to develop the 26 DLC and the 27 full game.

I think the changes will help the visual experience (and improve safety) as cars are less likely to run out of energy. However, it doesn't resolve the underlying issue that these cars are pretty tame, and drivers are rarely required to push to the limit.

Fully agree. Unfortunately, the FIA cares more about attracting as many engine manufacturers as possible so we are probably stuck with 50% electric power units at least until the 2040s. Please correct if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that if they went back to non-hybrid engines then the teams would probably only have 2 to 3 options for power units. I think this would create a more competitive season and would help grow the sport even faster via Drive to Survive on Netflix. Non-hybrid engines would lower the cost of running a team and make it more affordable for the growing number of super-rich people in the world.