Formula 1 will bring major changes to the rules and regulations for its V6 hybrid power units starting with the 2026 Formula One campaign, with a greater focus on electric power and sustainable fuels. This move is part of the sports’ plan of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
The new rules and regulation for 2026 have also made F1 more attractive for the Volkswagen Group, who will be entering the sport through the Audi brand, which will become an engine supplier. Its sister brand, Porsche, has also expressed interest in producing a Formula 1 power unit even though its initial plan of signing a partnership with Red Bull was not finalized.
At the same time, Formula 1 is discussing with several interested parties regarding the possibility of joining the Formula 1 grid in the next few years. Andretti Global has already provided a lot of details about its plan to create a Formula One team by working with United States automotive giant General Motors through its Cadillac brand, despite the fact that this would not involve an initial engine supply.
During the last two decades, one of the most difficult tasks for manufacturers who wanted to join the sport an engine supplier was the challenge of reducing the gap with those who were already on the grid.
The clearest example is that of Honda: the Japanese brand, which joined Formula 1 one year after the V6 hybrid power units were introduced and had a difficult few years as they struggled to improve their performance and reliability.
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In a recent interview at the Autosport International in Birmingham, Formula 1 chief technical officer Pat Symonds pointed out that making sure there was a level playing field for new power unit manufacturers was one of the major targets for the new rules and regulation: “We set a lot of high-level objectives with the new regulations, and one of the high level objectives for the ’26 power unit was to level the playing field for newcomers. The combustion on a current Formula 1 engine is very, very different to the combustion on what I’d call a conventional one. It’s damn nearly a diesel running on gasoline. It’s a very complex combustion. It’s not something where if you’ve been designing racing engines for years and suddenly you’re tasked with a Formula 1 engine, it’s quite different. So we wanted to level the playing field a bit there, because getting people like Audi and Porsche, Cadillac have raised their head, there are others I won’t name – that’s not a bad thing. It’s quite good to have those names in the sport.” – Pat Symonds pointed out.
The increased interest from new manufacturers has led to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem deciding to begin the process to expand the grid and allow more teams to join.
Andretti has remained the most vocal party, yet most of the current F1 teams are still against this idea, mainly because it would lead to less money in the short-term. Pat Symonds pointed out that he would welcome new teams and the idea of allowing more cars on the Formula 1 grid, if the new teams were to bring additional value to the sport:
“There’s no harm having more cars, providing they’re quality,” he said. “We don’t want to go back to the HRT thing of 2011 or whenever it was. But the sport is incredible successful at the moment. It’s successful as it is. It’s no wonder people want to get involved, because we’ve turned the sport around in the last five years from being a cost centre to a profit centre, and that’s quite something. So I’m not surprised they want to be involved.” – the Formula 1 chief technical officer concluded.
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