How do you balance a deep field of Hypercars stacked with prototypes built to two different regulation sets, powered by a variety of engines and hybrid systems? It’s been a topic of constant debate since the current formula debuted in the FIA WEC back in 2021.
The Balance of Performance system that underpins the Hypercar class – to control costs and create parity – has evolved season to season. And for 2026, the process is similar to last year, set based on data from two stages: each car’s homologation parameters and a rolling BoP across the season.
The first stage was set in the off-season, when all of the cars were homologated at the Windshear wind tunnel, taking into account each car’s drag, downforce, centre of gravity, fuel consumption, and drivetrain type. The second phase, meanwhile, is an ongoing process, with adjustments to each car’s weight and power based on data collected from the most representative recent races.
“When we have the homologation parameters of the car, we have a first level of balancing, and we adjust a bit of the weight and power to give the same potential of the cars on a specific track,” Bruno Famin, the ACO’s new deputy director of competition, explained in a media roundtable today alongside Marek Nawarecki from the FIA.
“But it’s not enough. We need to know the cars, we need a starting point, especially when there is a newcomer. But we need to see the real performance on track. That’s why we have a second layer, where we work with the rolling BoP. We look at the data of representative previous races, and we look at the performance on track.
“We then have a big task of selecting and cleaning the data, to have a clear idea of the performance on track of all the cars. It’s a percentage of the best lap times, and we clean it when we know some drivers are lifting or saving tyres and fuel, which is part of race management.
“Then we make a final adjustment on weight and power to adapt the potential of performance of every car. It’s specific per track, per car. We can say sometimes that two cars have the same BoP, but we don’t have the same figures for two cars, because they don’t have the same history or homologation parameters.”
DSC asked how relevant last year’s data was in setting the BoP for the start of the 2026 season, because most of the cars in the field have received aerodynamic updates and will race on a new Michelin tyre.
“We know the variation,” Famin responded. “We know the difference between the homologation parameters from last year to this year, and they are not huge. The regulation is quite strict on the limits, thanks to the performance windows. All the parameters are different, but not by far. We took into consideration the new tyres. We do believe that it’s still relevant to consider the previous events, from 2025, in the rolling BoP.”
Notably, for Genesis and its brand new GMR-001, the BoP will be set based on homologation parameters and a rolling BoP to match the best car in the field, as there is no representative data from previous races to work with.
“As we don’t have any on-track data, you never know how the performance could be. We protect ourselves from any kind of surprises,” Famin added.
For the season ahead, perhaps the biggest change is that the ACO and FIA will keep the BoP tables out of public view, at least for the time being.
This week in Imola, no BoP table was published ahead of the Prologue on Tuesday, and nothing will be added to the noticeboard ahead of the race weekend, which gets underway tomorrow.
“Why don’t you release the charts anymore?” Famin added. “Because it’s super confusing. We don’t want to control the narrative. We want to avoid any misunderstanding. It’s super difficult to understand. People who think that everything is fake and we are cheating everything, they will never change.
“The thing we will never publish is the homologation parameters. And if you don’t have the homologation parameters, you cannot understand the (BoP) figures. You don’t have the starting point, you don’t have the key to understand the evolution.”
This level of secrecy extends to the Le Mans 24 Hours, with no word yet on how the BoP will be set for the biggest race of the season.
“It’s too early to comment. As there are only two races before Le Mans, we prefer the manufacturers not to know how it will work, to limit the way they will play,” Famin said. “We want to limit the risks of sandbagging in Imola and Spa.”
