Norris, Verstappen, Russell – and will it be any good? Key F1 storylines
f1 arrives in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix with wholly new cars, engines, tyres and fuel, and the first practice set for 8: 30 PM ET Thursday. Teams and drivers face radical rule changes that shift power to electrical systems and demand intricate energy management. The opening weekend at Albert Park will test whether the sport’s sweeping technical reset delivers closer racing or confusion.
Key F1 storylines
The headline is structural: cars, power units and tyres have been reworked so fundamentally that appearance is the only familiar thing. The engine architecture now targets a roughly 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power, with the electrical motor able to deliver 350 kW (470 bhp) while the internal combustion output sits at about 400 kW. The battery remains similar in size, creating repeated cycles of depletion and replenishment several times per lap and making energy recovery and deployment central to race strategy.
New cars, engines and energy rules
Dimensions and weight limits have changed: wheelbase is 200 mm shorter at 3, 400 mm, the floor is 100 mm narrower, front tyres are 25 mm narrower and rear tyres 30 mm narrower, and the minimum weight has fallen from 800 kg to 768 kg. The MGU-H has been removed from the power unit package; the MGU-K is much more powerful, and the battery may now be recharged with more than double the previous 4 MJ per lap. To help recover energy and cut drag, movable front and rear wings have been introduced and teams are using a complex set of recovery methods—including enhanced harvesting under braking, part-throttle recovery and new permitted techniques—alongside boost and overtake modes for short and longer bursts of power. The result: cars can have nearly twice the power with a full charge compared with an empty battery, and drivers must manage swings in available power repeatedly every lap.
Teams and drivers to watch
Manufacturer movement and team line-ups add extra intrigue. Audi has entered the sport by taking over the Sauber team, Ford has joined as Red Bull’s partner after Porsche did not proceed with its own entry, and General Motors has returned with a factory team under the Cadillac name—the first new works entrant since Haas in 2016. On the driver front, Lando Norris beat Max Verstappen to the 2025 drivers’ title by two points and will start the season as defending champion. Mercedes are viewed as pre-season favourites with a car described as quick and well balanced; George Russell is identified as a driver likely to capitalise if that package proves strong in Melbourne. McLaren, Red Bull and others enter a development season which promises rapid changes as teams chase performance under the new rules.
Drivers have voiced frustration over the unusual driving techniques now required and the scale of energy management, a theme that promises to shape both qualifying and race craft in the opening rounds. The boost and overtake modes, plus the increased electrical power, create tactical layers that could produce swings in performance within a single lap.
What happens next
Expect the weekend at Albert Park to be a testbed: first practice at 8: 30 PM ET Thursday will reveal which cars cope with the new balance of electrical and combustion power, and the early running will set the tone for an intense in-season development race. Teams that can quickly unlock consistent energy recovery and deployment will have the clearest path to pace, while manufacturers making their competitive debuts will be measured by reliability and how fast they learn. f1’s new era is live in Melbourne, and the coming days will show whether these sweeping changes deliver the closer, cleaner competition the rules intend.
