Fernando Alonso has seen more rule changes than anyone else on the Formula 1 grid. He started in 2001—so long ago that out of this year’s eleven teams, only three even existed in their current form. Back then, Aston Martin was still called Jordan, and Alonso drove for Minardi, which is now Racing Bulls.

Now, with the 2026 regulations on the horizon, Alonso and his team boss, Adrian Newey,y face the biggest shake-up of their careers. Aston Martin has already tried some pretty wild ideas this season to get the best out of the car, but there’s already some worry about Honda’s power unit after the Barcelona shakedown.

These new rules are going to change how drivers race each other, no question. Alonso’s already said one part of the update is bugging him as he heads into pre-season testing.

He told MARCA that managing energy in 2026 is going to be “a bit annoying” this year. Alonso explained, “Every set of rules has its quirks, and you have to change how you drive with each car. But this one’s pretty drastic. You need to manage energy through the whole lap, even in qualifying, when you’re supposed to be pushing flat out. That’s going to be annoying from a driver’s point of view.”

He went on, “You really have to think more now. When I drove in IndyCar, most of the race was about saving fuel. In WEC, it was all about energy management along with hybrids and traffic. But in the end, it’s racing. You go when the lightturngo green and stop at the flag. You get used to it fast. At first, you wish you could just drive flat-out, but F1’s gone this way, and these hybrids need that kind of management. We’ll get the hang of it.”

Alonso also said F1 probably isn’t ever going back to the 1990s or 2000s, which he thinks was the sport’s golden era. He hasn’t quite decided if that’s good or bad yet.

He’s worried about over-regulation too, especially as the 2026 engines might force cars to stop accelerating halfway down the straight. Sure, overtake modes and boost buttons could make things more exciting, but Alonso thinks it’s gotten complicated. “You have to plan more before you get in the car or try to overtake, but honestly, the teams are prepared. They run all the simulations, so by Sunday, there aren’t many surprises or big mistakes left for drivers to make.”

He added, “There isn’t much freedom anymore for what you do in the cockpit or how much energy you can use. The FIA really restricts it. You have to reduce power in a certain way, and when you want to use extra energy, you don’t get more than the car in front. We all deploy max energy for a second out of the corner, so honestly, there’s not much you can do. It’s over-regulated, and the differences between drivers are going to be tiny.”

Aston Martin showed up late in Barcelona, but the word isthat thee second half of their season should look a lot better than the start.

As for how long Alonso will keep racing, that’s anyone’s guess. He says it depends on how competitive Aston Martin can be—and whether he actually enjoys racing under these new rules.

McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been pretty open about how they’re changing things up to get ready for the new Formula 1 rules. The one thing they both talk about? The sheer amount of extra work is waiting for them in the cockpit.

These 2026 regs are a big deal. The new power units will split power almost evenly between the engine and the battery. DRS is out. Active aero is in. And drivers will need to handle more of the energy management themselves—when to harvest and when to hit deploy.

Physically, not much changes for Norris or Piastri. But Norris says he’s clocking way more hours in the simulator now. “You’re still prepping in a lot of the same ways,” he said at the McLaren launch. “But I’m spending more time on the sim, just trying to get used to all the different buttons and how things work now.”

Most of the changes, he says, are procedural. It’s about getting the steps right, not overhauling everything else. “Every season, you look back at what worked and what didn’t, and you try to improve. This year, though, there’s just more stuff happening on the steering wheel already, so we’re digging into that in the sim and trying to be ready for Bahrain and Australia.”

Piastri jumped in, talking about how much more they’ll have to juggle behind the wheel. “There’s just more for us to think about. Sure, we’ve had hybrid power before, but now it’s way more important. The battery’s a bigger part of it. You use up the charge quicker, but you can refill quicker too, so it’s way more dynamic. It’s another thing to keep your eye on while driving.”

He didn’t sugarcoat it. “It’s definitely another challenge, but at the end of the day, the goal’s still the same: go as fast as you can. It’s just that there’s more to handle while you’re doing it.”