Lewis Hamilton has called the new rules for the 2026 Formula One season complex, as he believes fans will struggle to understand the new changes.

After their initial testing week in Barcelona last month, the F1 teams are now putting their cars through the paces in Bahrain as they look to understand more about the new engines for the upcoming season.

The engines for the 2026 campaign have a near 50-50 power split between the internal combustion engine and electrical components, while an increased degree of energy management will also be required.

The new rules and regulations mean the drivers will need to adjust their techniques, such as dropping to lower gears, and teams will also have to alter their strategies.

The change might be what Hamilton needs, with the seven-time F1 champion failing to finish on the podium in a single Grand Prix last season with Ferrari.

However, the Brit is not completely convinced by the changes that have been introduced.

"I sat in a meeting the other day, and they're taking us through it. And yeah, it's like you need a degree to fully understand it all," said Hamilton after the first session in Bahrain.

First session of the Bahrain test complete  pic.twitter.com/vCKTdrSZLX

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) February 11, 2026

"If you look at Barcelona, for example, we're doing 600 metres lift and coast on a qualifying lap. That's not what racing is about. Here [in Bahrain], we're not having to do that because there's lots of braking zones.

"The low gears that we have to go down into is just because we can't recover enough battery power.

"We can't recover enough battery power, so that's why we have to go and rev the engines very, very, very high. So we're going down to second and first in some places just to try to recover that extra bit of power."

The 2026 F1 season gets underway on March 6-8, with the schedule starting in Australia as Hamilton looks to challenge for an outright-record eighth world title.