Tombasis: We did the right thing by considering the opinions of the drivers.

      The FIA reacted to the critical statements from drivers who believe that the federation did not do its job well in preparing for the season and failed to foresee the scale of the problems faced by Formula 1 in 2026. In particular, Carlos Sainz, the director of the GPDA association, a kind of union for the world championship drivers, stated: "Who in 2022 or 2023 saw the calculations made on the simulator but did not analyze them and say, 'How can this be accepted at all?' What happened needs to be analyzed, as this should not have happened." Nicholas Tombazis, the FIA's single-seater racing director, understands that many aspects of the 2026 regulations do not please the drivers; however, he assures that the FIA had its hands tied during the process of working on the regulations and could not make timely adjustments to certain provisions. "I think drivers are inherently very demanding clients," Tombazis is quoted by The Race. "It's unlikely that they are inclined to sugarcoat anything or refrain from expressing their opinions. In fact, we anticipated much of what they are now complaining about two years before the start of the season and really tried to make certain amendments. But under the current governance system, we could not do that." To ensure that the interests of both traditional and new manufacturers were taken into account during the preparation for the season, a Power Unit Advisory Committee was created to determine how to adjust the regulations. For example, any significant amendments required the consent of the FIA, FOM, and four out of five power unit suppliers that were working with Formula 1 teams at the time. Tombazis insists that this was necessary to create equal conditions for all, including new manufacturers who joined the championship in recent years: "Even if at that time a car company was not participating in Formula 1, for example, Audi, it still had to take on certain obligations outlined in the regulations. They could have approached the FIA and said, 'You know, we are not participating in the championship yet, so we can spend five times more money.' And that would have been unfair. Therefore, an agreement was reached whereby all manufacturers committed to meeting the regulatory requirements, including those related to financial and production activities. On the other hand, this limited the FIA's freedom of action, and we could not make unilateral amendments. Therefore, any changes to the regulations required the consent of a significant number of power unit manufacturers, i.e., at least four of them. Simply put, four engine manufacturers in previous years opposed us when we discussed possible amendments." As a result, when it became clear at the beginning of the season how serious the problems related to the power units were, emergency measures had to be taken, which were partially implemented starting from the Miami Grand Prix in May. "It's a pity we had to wait until this moment, but in May we discussed issues that would allow us to adjust the regulations for 2027 and 2028," Tombazis continued. "I believe ideally this could have been done a couple of years earlier, and then we wouldn't have to have all these discussions now. However, I would say that most races were quite interesting, with constant battles on the tracks. And although there is a clear advantage on the side of one specific power unit manufacturer, in the past, when this happened at the beginning of a new set of regulations, races resembled processions. And now, although Mercedes wins most of the races, they are quite spectacular, with constant position changes and so on. Overall, we need to try to find the right balance. Certainly, drivers are important figures in our sport. I think we did the right thing by considering many of their wishes and taking measures. But at the same time, we must think about the spectators, who also want to see changes and watch interesting races."