After two discussions with technical chiefs, Monday marked the long-awaited meeting between the FIA, Formula 1, the teams and power unit manufacturers. The agenda revolved around how the technical regulations could be improved based on the opening rounds, and ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.

Both the FIA and F1 had made it clear beforehand that major changes were highly unlikely, also because both the governing body and the commercial rightsholder do not consider the racing itself – despite some complaints about yo-yo racing – to be problematic.

There was broad consensus on two topics that are highlighted in a statement shared by the FIA after the meeting: qualifying needs to be more on the limit again, and safety must be improved – especially after the closing speeds played a major role in Oliver Bearman’s crash in Japan.

In reality, these points come down to adjustments to the energy management, on both the deployment and harvesting sides. All changes were unanimously agreed by the teams and only need official approval from the World Motor Sports Council.

First of all, the FIA announced that super clipping will be increased from 250 kilowatts to the maximum of 350 kilowatts from Miami onward. This means drivers can recover more energy while remaining at full throttle, a change McLaren team boss Andrea Stella had already advocated for during winter testing in Bahrain.

Increasing super clipping does not eliminate all concerns from fans — cars will still lose top speed before the end of straights — but the speed profile is considered more natural and, above all, safer than with unexpected lift and coast manoeuvres.

In addition, the FIA reduced the harvesting limit during qualifying from 8 megajoules to 7 megajoules, although it should be noted that these values can be lowered even further for 12 circuits on the calendar.

This means cars can recover less energy during a qualifying lap and therefore have less electrical power to deploy. It will make the 2026 cars slower, but reduces the need for both lift-and-coast and super clipping. It should help to make qualifying more on the limit again, despite slightly slower lap times.

“This change targets a maximum super clipping duration reduced to approximately 2-4 seconds per lap,” the FIA explained.

In Japan, the governing body already introduced a similar measure, which according to the federation reduced super clipping from 10 to six seconds per lap at Suzuka. That change was still a one-off at the time, but following Monday’s meeting it will now become a structural measure.

The FIA will also make adjustments on the deployment side. MGU-K deployment remains at 350 kilowatts for what the FIA calls “key acceleration zones”, but will be limited to 250 kilowatts for other parts of the lap. Additionally, the maximum power available through boost mode in race conditions is now capped at +150 kW.

“These measures are designed to reduce excessive closing speeds while maintaining overtaking opportunities and overall performance characteristics,” the FIA explained.

In addition to these three main topics, the FIA, teams and manufacturers also discussed more specific scenarios.

One of these concerns race starts, which some in the paddock have described as a safety issue. Other teams — including Ferrari — have argued that concessions have already been made and that it also comes down to design choices, such as the smaller turbo.

From Miami onwards, the FIA will use a so-called “low power start detection system”, capable of identifying cars with abnormally low acceleration shortly after clutch release.

“In such cases, an automatic MGU-K deployment will be triggered to ensure a minimum level of acceleration and mitigate start-related risks without introducing any sporting advantage.”

This means that the start will not be competitive in those cases, but that the driver in question can at least move away from their grid position to avoid a major crash. “And an associated visual warning system is being introduced, activating flashing lights (rear and lateral) on affected cars to alert following drivers.”

Finally, agreement has been reached on improving safety in wet conditions. The temperature of the tyre blankets for intermediates will be increased, while the ERS deployment will be reduced and the rear light systems will been simplified.

The proposals agreed in the meeting on Monday will be implemented from Miami, apart from the race start changes that will be tested during the next race weekend when feedback will be collected from teams and drivers.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is satisfied with the outcome of the meeting and the constructive manner in which the teams approached it.