Hamilton warns 2026 Silverstone will be a different circuit with new cars
Hamilton said Silverstone will be a “completely different circuit” in 2026, with Copse and Becketts expected to expose how quickly the new cars run out of electrical power.
Lewis Hamilton said Silverstone will be “a completely different circuit” when Formula 1’s 2026 cars arrive at the 5.891km, 18-corner track, warning that the new power units will leave drivers energy-starved through some of the fastest sections. The Ferrari driver said the weekend will be “unprecedented” for power deployment, with the lap’s high-speed flow forcing cars to recover energy through Copse and Becketts and, at times, rely on internal combustion power alone.
Silverstone has always punished commitment through Copse, Maggotts, Becketts and Stowe, but Hamilton said the new rules will change the way those corners feel. He said the best parts of the lap will lose power deployment, meaning Maggotts and Becketts may not feel the same and cars may need to lift and coast through them. Hamilton also said the drivers have been discussing the problem in their chat group, with concerns that the power will be poor through the circuit’s quickest stretches.
The 2026 power units split energy roughly 50-50 between combustion and electricity, with 350kW, or 470bhp, from the electric side and a little over 400kW from the engine. Under the revised limits, recharge is capped at 6.5MJ in qualifying and 8MJ for the sprint and grand prix, a constraint that could leave batteries depleted before the end of some high-speed sections. Hamilton said Ferrari’s deficit to Mercedes could be “twice as big” as it was at the Austrian Grand Prix because of Silverstone’s layout.
Fernando Alonso called the situation “quite sad” and described Becketts as a “charging station”. George Russell said the changes could make the racing more interesting. The British Grand Prix runs from 2-5 July as a Sprint weekend, with the F1 Sprint format returning to the Northamptonshire circuit.
Hamilton returns to a venue that has already defined his career. He holds a record nine wins at Silverstone, the most victories by any driver at a single Formula 1 circuit, after taking his ninth home triumph there in 2024 and ending a 945-day wait for another grand prix win. Silverstone hosted the first Formula 1 World Championship race in 1950.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
