Lance Stroll: F1 still "miles off" from proper cars

Aston Martin's Lance Stroll insists Formula 1's 2026 regulations are still far away from where they need to be, as the series introduces a first set of rule tweaks at this weekend's Miami Grand Prix.

Following concerns from teams, drivers and a vocal subset of fans on various aspects of the 2026 rules, F1 stakeholders came together to agree on a first tranche of refinements to the new energy management requirements.

After a series of technical discussions, governing body the FIA announced adjustments to the amount of energy cars can harvest over a lap, which should help allow drivers to push the cars much more in qualifying without being punished by power unit algorithms or being forced to lift-and-coast into corners. The FIA was also keen to address the extreme closing speeds between cars following a scary accident for Haas driver Oliver Bearman.

The pre-Miami tweaks are just a first round of adjustments, with more tweaks possible depending on data from the next set of races, but the general consensus is that they represent just a small step in the right direction rather than a silver bullet, with bigger hardware changes likely required.

But according to Stroll F1 is still "miles off" where it should be, saying the current regulations will remain "fundamentally flawed" for the next few seasons.

"Hopefully, it's better with all this stuff that's just destroying the racing and the qualifying laps. So, hopefully it's a bit more normal to drive," Stroll said on Thursday in the Miami paddock.

"We don't even think so much about all the management and lift-and-coast, and how much throttle we put and all this stuff. But I think we're still far away from proper F1 cars and pushing flat out without thinking about batteries and all this stuff. We're miles off of where we should be."

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing (Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images)

Stroll said it was particularly confronting to watch footage of old F1 cars going around the Monaco street circuit at last weekend's Historic Grand Prix of Monaco: "We had time off in the break. I was randomly watching old races and stuff. I even had the Monaco Historics on the TV and I heard some Ferrari cars from the early 2000s and how good they sounded and how small and nimble. There were some onboards I saw from the early or even mid-2000s in the V8 era, V10 era.

"And then what it looks like versus now. You hear what it's like now and the character of the cars and how much more intense it looked and how much more exciting it looked back then compared to now. It's sad but hopefully we're heading back in that direction."

Alpine driver Pierre Gasly said the rule refinements will make a meaningful difference to help restore qualifying to its former glory, as senior team engineers expect the need to lift-and-coast over one lap to be all but gone from now on.

"It's going in the right direction for the stuff that we are asking," Gasly said. "I don't think it's a game changer. But it's going in the right direction and it's good to give it a try and then actually see what it brings and see if there is any necessity to take further steps. But I think it should be good."

Gasly was appreciative of the FIA and F1 chiefs taking driver feedback into account to help define the next steps: "Overall, it's the best communications we've had for a while. I think it's been very constructive. I think us as drivers have appreciated the fact that we've been involved because we are the ones behind the wheel. We are the ones feeling what's going on in all sorts of situations. So, the feedback we can give is way more precise than any other one in the organisation. I think they've definitely validated it.

"As much as we would like to make the rules, there are also big entities behind the sport and manufacturers that are also pushing for what they want to have and what they need to be in the sport. We've got to please everybody.

"But at the end of the day, I think safety has definitely got to come first when it comes to what we do. I think everybody is pretty happy with the change we've made."