Guenther Steiner believes that Formula 1 will experience a season marked by an intense technical development war in 2026. For the former Haas boss, the new category rules should cause frequent changes in team competitiveness throughout the season.
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With the new cars introduced this year, teams are still in the learning and adaptation phase. According to Steiner, this makes updates have a much greater impact on performance, quickly changing the balance of power between teams.
The clearest first example of this dispute happened at the Miami GP. McLaren and Ferrari brought important update packages to try to reduce the advantage of Mercedes, the championship leader at the start of this season.
McLaren managed to show immediate improvement, with Lando Norris winning the Sprint race in Miami. Ferrari, on the other hand, lost ground in the battle and ceased to occupy the position of main pursuer of Mercedes, being surpassed by the British team.
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Steiner believes this scenario should repeat several times throughout the year: “I think it will be close throughout the season, because McLaren brought many updates to Miami, while Mercedes did not,” said the former executive during participation in the Red Flags podcast.
The former Haas boss highlighted that Mercedes remains competitive, even without presenting a large package of recent novelties: “I think Mercedes is preparing a big update for Canada, so we need to wait and see,” he added.
According to Steiner, the current moment favors important performance discoveries by the teams: “Since it is a new regulation cycle, teams are still learning a lot. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s easier than it will be in three years to find performance in a car,” he concluded.
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