There has been a growing excitement within Formula 1 about the potential return of the V10 engines. That roaring sound is part of the history and identity of the sport.
But the calls of senior figures in the F1 -Paddock, including the FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, to consider returning the loud engines that most recently used 20 years ago, also asked questions.
As simpler, louder and cheaper V10 engines, the execution of fully sustainable fuels and resulting in smaller and lighter car designs, will be introduced in the coming years, what will happen in the meantime? And how would that influence the change of the imminent current unit that is planned for 2026?
The stakeholders of F1 have been working on the motor rules of 2026 for years and maintain the V6 -hybrid basis for the electricity units. Since their approval in the summer of 2022, the Ruleset Audi, Ford (Via Red Bull) and General Motors has encouraged to join the grid, as well as the reversing of Honda’s decision to stop, all thanks to the dedication of the sport to completely sustainable fuels and more electrification. In the case of Audi and Red Bull, the development of their new motorcycle programs requires considerable investments and recruitment, which encounter hundreds of millions of dollars.
These rules were intended to cover a five -year cycle from 2026 to the end of 2030. But will they not even happen?
In a select media round table, including The athletic, On Sunday in Shanghai, Nikolas Tombazis, the director of the FIA who helps to shape the future rules of F1, the discussion about the future motorcycle regulations put up as taking of two questions.
The first relates to the long -term direction of the sport and / or F1 in the next three or four years wants a different type of power unit. “If the answer is yes, (that) we want to change something, then question number two is:” What do we do in the intervening period? “” Said Tombazis. That period starts next year.
“What I want to say in the beginning around 2026 is that, whether we will stay with the current regulations or that we do the already approved new regulations, I think the Formula 1 would be in a good place,” said Tombazis. “I don’t want it to be seen as a kind of:” Ok, we focus in panic around 2026 “, because that is far from reality.”
On Friday in China, Red Bull Team Director Christian Horner claimed that there were “limitations” next year that influenced the on-track spectacle of the sport because of the “shortcomings of the split in electrification and combustion” sources with the new Power Unit, which leans more on the electrical power in the Power Unit. Those “limitations” would relate to consistent performance problems in the network, which could influence the quality of competition and racing.
But Tombazis said that he and the wider FIA did not share what he called a “scar -sculpting” vision about the potential impact of the 2026 racing regulations.
“I think cars will racing closely with each other, being able to fight each other and use the skills of the driver, etc.,” said Tombazis. “So fundamentally I think I don’t share the panic stories. I remind people that there were panic stories for the ’22 regulations on how the cars would be massively slow.” This was when F1 made a major overhaul for the aerodynamic regulations, which was not on the 2026 scale when both the cars and the electricity units will change.
“I am not saying that everything was perfect,” said Tombazis about the change of 2022. “There were things with the benefit of afterwards that we would have done otherwise. But I don’t think it was that disaster.”
Any change in the plans for next year would depend on the position of all motor manufacturers. The investment and effort already delivered has led the sport to a point where it is “10 after midnight and Assepoester left the building” to quote Horner.
Although Tombazis agreed that “the train largely left the station” before 2026, he noted that the leadership of the ‘interim’ period was fed by Babbel in the aftermath of Ben Sulayem, the FIA president, who called for an evaluation of a future transfer to V10s.
Tombazis added that the FIA did not want to impose changes that would make it impossible for a team to compete. “We won’t just go majorities,” he said. “We try to build a consensus here, and if that fails, we will stay where we are (with the existing 2026 plan).”
If manufacturers of F1 Power Unit would find that it would be better to suspend the ’26 engines because of possible negative effects on sport -if the ‘scaremunning’ was serious and there were a lot of concerns -then there are mechanisms that can lead to the status quo with the current specification of the interim solution.
But that would lead to other important knock-on effects and problems, given that Audi and Red Bull Powertrains/Ford did not produce V6-hybrid engine for the current regulations. Other existing manufacturers have moved all development to future engines. This again makes the idea of changing the engine plans of next year, seem unthinkable.
Horner told reporters in China on Sunday that he would be “very surprised” if the existing rules would continue to exist next year. “I think all teams are all on ’26 at the moment,” said Horner. “So we should understand what it was all about.” He also denied that Red Bull insisted on a delay in the new rules and said it “started and was ready for ’26.”
Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team -director, has not thought much about the possibility that the changes will not take place in 2026.
“It’s all going to be good,” he told reporters and called the change an “exciting adventure” for the F1 grid that meant that it would be celebrated, not mocked by looking at what will follow the coming change.
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)
“Here we have to put our emphasis,” said Wolff. “This is what we have to cheer for and talk about all the goodness that will bring instead of looking too far ahead.”
A Audi spokesperson issued a statement in which it was noted that the upcoming change of rule and the design of the Power unit “was a key factor in Audi’s decision to enter Formula 1. These regulations of the electricity unit reflect the same technological progress that stimulates innovation in the road cars of Audi.” The German manufacturer has set up its own F1 engine program and bought the Sauber team all based on these rules -which could only last a few years now.
Assuming things will continue as planned for 2026, as most still anticipate, the winds are currently blowing to a shorter cycle of the original five years to change the formula of the Power Unit.
The desire for a long -term game plan is shared by senior figures in the Paddock, which means that it will be a talk point in the coming months. The positions of the various manufacturers of power unit can be influenced by their relative competitive classification in the political fighting next year. If a team has produced the best power unit and has an advantage that would be difficult to overcome, it is obvious that it may try to protect it and kick any shift in the regulations as far as possible – and that his rivals would try to fight back.
Given how celebrated the 2026 engine rules were when they were announced in 2022 and the credit that was given to them when every new large manufacturer joined the grid, she would dump early. But Tombazis found that two primary factors had caused the change in posture. First he mentioned the perception of manufacturers about the inclusion of electrification in the car industry, given a delay in consumer’s interest.
“In 2020, 2021, when these discussions were held, the trend was quite decisive in the direction of electrification,” he said. “I am not saying that this is not happening, but the views of the participants have changed since then.”
He also emphasized the costs of making the electricity units, making the current designs ‘far too expensive’. When the rules of 2026 were announced, improved cost control was announced as one of their benefits, but Tombazis said their costs were a consideration.
“Even if Formula 1 is financially in very good health, it has also become important to protect it against fluctuations of the world economy, and I think we should take these protective measures while the sun is shining and not when it starts to rain, ideally,” he said. “The drive to save costs is important to consider.
“All these things are not things that we would dream of without trying to respect all participants.”
Wolff said that Mercedes was “always open” for different engine solutions, but that F1 also had to consider what fans wanted, and whether their opinion could have changed in the midst of the shift to a younger and more diverse fan base than in the past. For those who came to the sport through “Drive to Survive”, the sound of V6 hybrids is all they will have known.
“All this should be asked as questions,” said Wolff. “What are the objectives for a future change in regulation in a few years? Let us analyze that based on data and come to a conclusion that is the best of our sport.
“Because this is the most important denominator between the FIA, Formula 1, the teams, that we want the biggest product for our fans.”
(Top photo: Peter Parks/AFP via Getty images)