While FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has launched his campaign for a return to V10 engines for the future—undermining the regulations set to come into force next year—there is little public information about the work being done by manufacturers and teams on the new agile single-seaters. Are they guarding secrets, or are there too many hurdles to overcome?
This winter will bring a genuine revolution in every aspect of Formula 1: power units combining internal combustion and electric motors contributing equally to power output, lighter and narrower cars with shorter wheelbases, tyres with a smaller contact patch, active aerodynamics both front and rear, and the introduction of sustainable fuels such as e-fuel.
In short, nothing will be as before. Manufacturers, for starters, are discovering that each individual power unit remains extremely costly. Compared to current engines—priced at €1.2 million each with four units allowed per season without penalty—the savings will be less than €100,000. Those facing repeated bench-test failures will see their development budgets squeezed even further.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem has effectively kicked off his re-election campaign for FIA president, a role that expires at the end of the year, by embracing naturally aspirated V10 engines with a small KERS system. The Dubai royal has effectively skipped an entire generation of engines that has yet to make its Grand Prix debut, undermining years of development by manufacturers.
The FIA president is willing to lose a few manufacturers if it means simplifying the engines, hoping to free the federation from OEM political influence and gain full control over the rules. Yet recent history suggests that regulations drafted without team input would be riddled with flaws.
It’s worth noting that the idea for a 50% electric and 50% combustion engine came not from race engineers in the paddock but from automotive CEOs and presidents. Industry leaders entered the debate to define F1’s new frontier in a way that could help boost electric car sales.
They hoped Grand Prix racing could become the showcase for an EV market that barely exists. Many pushed the electric agenda after massive investments—especially from German brands—following the European Commission’s Green Deal vision, which vilified combustion engines and promoted only one technology for the future of mobility. Even after recognising their strategic mistakes and the high costs of industrial transition, these executives hoped F1 would spark the market. But in just a few years, the world has changed dramatically.
The half-and-half engine concept has proven to be overly ambitious for current technology, becoming a partial flop. Teams are struggling to generate enough electrical charge to complete a full lap. To address this, lawmakers have targeted chassis design, reducing drag to avoid wasting any horsepower—resulting in so-called “Frankenstein” cars. Early FIA designs lacked downforce and risked spinning in fast corners. Thanks to team collaboration, corrective measures have been introduced to mitigate these risks.
Latest simulations suggest lap times on most circuits will be only about two seconds slower than current levels—a strong starting point given the initial, much bleaker predictions. With development, performance could soon match today’s standards. Some manufacturers have invested up to a billion dollars and would even support shortening the regulatory cycle (currently set until 2030) to speed up change.
This could lead to engines costing a quarter of those now under development, making the sport accessible even to manufacturers without deep expertise in complex hybrid units.
The new regulations, however, are being developed in near-total secrecy. Paddock rumours suggest Mercedes, as in 2014 at the start of the hybrid era, may already have an advantage with the Brixworth-built power unit led by Hywel Thomas—benefiting McLaren, Williams, and Alpine alongside the works team. What about Ferrari, Honda, Audi, and Red Bull Powertrains? There’s no official information—only rumours from engineers switching teams and carrying technical know-how.
Some might have an excellent combustion engine but a poor hybrid system, or vice versa. Others could have a top-class V6 hindered by inadequate e-fuel, leading to repeated bench failures from combustion chamber detonation. Every element is interconnected, and assessing the true state of play is difficult—not only for outside observers, but perhaps even within the teams themselves.
With many limits on aerodynamics, it’s likely that early in this new era F1 will be heavily engine-dependent. However, designers like Adrian Newey—long sceptical of these rules—are reportedly finding fresh ideas and inspiration.
Expecting a perfectly balanced championship like this year’s is unrealistic, but this “F1 in the dark” doesn’t necessarily need to be scrapped before its debut. The real risk is that those who wrote the rules might be the first to walk away. The challenge could prove thrilling, but the sport will need the right tools to tell its story and spark public interest—before critics bury it early.
Thanks to Liberty Media and especially Stefano Domenicali, F1 has tapped into a new golden vein. It takes years to rebuild a positive, successful image, but very little to destroy it.
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