The 2022 season will be the zero year of F1. A new technical context will come into effect after the one-year postponement due to the Coronavirus pandemic. In several articles we have explored the many innovations that will in fact change the cars as we know them. It is precisely by virtue of this technical revolution that it was decided to keep some constant elements which the teams, in the era of budget cap, can keep unchanged. Here the decision makers, wisely, have decided to freeze the power units starting from January 1st 2022 until 2025.
Something necessary to allow the engineers of the other departments to work in the precise definition of projects whose evolutionary path is still being perfected. But the regulatory stability around the six-cylinder turbo-hybrid also serves to redefine the context to adapt it to the new challenges that Liberty Media wants to make: the introduction of new engines and the creation of propulsion units that are as eco-friendly as possible in terms of emissions. An issue, that relating to the environment, that the American entertainment giant has put at the top of its priorities since the day it took office.
In Austria, on the sidelines of the F1 Grand Prix won by Max Verstappen, there was a meeting of capital importance between the FIA, Liberty Media, the constructors present in Formula One and those who would like to understand if there is the margin to join the sport. The purpose of the assembly was to rewrite the rules on power units for the next ten years after 2025. Or 2026 since it seems that the orientation is to postpone the introduction of the new set of rules for a further season. Why could there be a twelve month delay? Essentially because the topic is very pushy and the interests at stake are very high. In these conditions, finding an arbitration line is almost a feat.
The new engines raise the technical bar. The FIA, which is the bearer of the ecological message that Liberty Media wants to launch, claims that the engines are eco-friendly, not expensive in research and construction, and have technology that can be transferred to production. And that they can of course be perfectly integrated with the new generation single-seaters that will be on the circuits starting from 2022. Characteristics that in any case must be reconcilable with the ability to attract new motorists.
It is evident that in this context there are centrifugal forces between those who are already in F1 and those who have yet to enter. At the moment there seem to be three visions facing each other. The first is that of Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault. In other words, the “historical” engine manufacturers who have reached an excellent level of development of their respective power units with the current regulations. Obviously these subjects do not want to squander the acquired advantage. On the opposite bank we find the potential industrial group willing to join: Volkswagen. Which could use its sports brands. That is Audi and Porsche. The German manufacturer fears to repeat Honda’s situation who suffered for at least three years in reconquering its rivals. It is true that it was a different historical context due to the development tokens that limited creativity and the ability to react, but the risk that the delay will become endemic is real. VW, therefore, would like something totally new compared to what is operating today. The three aforementioned engineers, on the other hand, ask for more limited changes in a system generally attributable to today’s one.
In the middle, and we come to the third strategic vision, we find Red Bull Powertrains F1 which will continue to exploit Honda’s know-how but is also willing to take a gamble. Also by virtue of the massive purchasing campaign it is carrying out with other competitors. According to some, the desire to maintain the status quo on the part of Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault would come from a sort of fear that they feel towards Audi-Porsche, deemed capable of immediately beating the competition in the presence of a distorted regulatory framework.
On the plate, in addition to the aforementioned technical-political issues, there is another burning aspect. The one related to costs. And not only the global investment to enter Formula 1, but also the production of the material to be used for the cars. Those who enter could be granted a higher spending ceiling precisely to recover the initial knowledge gap. But it is the same idea of a high budget – there is talk of a figure ranging between 80 and 120 million dollars per season – that could make Libert Media’s plan more difficult.
That is the context that should also favor the entry into F1 of companies that do not have the automotive industry behind them. A little bit what Illmor and Cosworth did. And what Red Bull should do with its fledgling powertrains department. For now we are at the figures thrown a little haphazardly because until you know how the new power units will be set up, it is not possible to quantify the costs either for the season or even less for the single engine. We need, very soon, to establish the technical guidelines otherwise we will not get out of the stalemate that basically emerged from Spielberg’s brainstorming.
If we go down to the purely constructive aspect, we encounter other unresolved problems. Current cars are heavy and bulky. Consequently they use power units that have a certain weight. The new course that will start in a few months will introduce single-seaters, which tomorrow will be unveiled in the lines, essentially more compact and less heavy. The engines should adapt to the lightening trend. How to do? Someone feared a change of architecture, with the imposition of 4-cylinder V-engines. Perspective that makes many turn up their noses. Starting with the fans who have not yet accepted relatively quiet and unemotional engines.
But that of weight is an important fact. Jean Todt, resigning president of the FIA, clearly argued that the only increase in weight that can be contemplated is that relating to the active safety of the car and not the increase in performance. On the other hand, Ross Brawn does not want to hear when he alludes to a drastic change in the engine architecture: the costs would be too high even for those who are already in F1. We would then arrive at the opposite effect. That is to say the current manufacturers would leave.
The economic and conceptual investment of the engineers is currently aimed at finding the horses that will be lost due to biofuels. From the first tests with totally green proto-gasolines, the loss of power is significant. In this scenario, it is unthinkable to remodel in its entirety a type of engine that in any case reached unimaginable levels of power and efficiency in 2014, i.e. when the turbo-hybrid power units debuted.
Any drop in performance resulting from eco-friendly gasolines could be compensated for in two ways: by maintaining and improving the MGU-H whose future presence appears to be in the balance and by introducing an electric motor to the front axle such as to transform the single-seaters into cars with four-wheel drive. A fascinating technical challenge that brings us back to the start: research costs would skyrocket. And, moreover, it would distort the very essence of F1 which has always been based on single-axle traction.
Then there would be the usual compromise and somewhat bizarre solutions such as that of deliberating a greater supply of fuel for qualifying and limiting it for the race in order to manage the material. This element to be associated with the possibility of removing the current limitation on the accumulation of electricity.
Other rounds of meetings are planned shortly, but the feeling is that there will still be much to talk about before reaching the necessary final synthesis. Liberty Media and the FIA will have to take the bull by the horns sooner or later. They are respectively the masters of the toy and the regulators of the discipline. The future is around the corner, there is no other time to waste.
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