Has Ferrari sold its soul? Analyzing the 2026 power unit regulations, it is clear that Formula 1 intends to focus much more on entertainment and business than on technological research, a sign that the highest category of motorsport is no longer interested in being the pinnacle of research which could be transferred to the production of road cars, but the focus is rather on a spasmodic pursuit of a show through performance leveling and the introduction of standard parts that should easily bring everyone to the same level.
The feeling is that Formula 1 has bowed to the wishes of Porsche and Audi, that wanted a comfortable position when entering F1 and have therefore dictated their conditions to join the sport: the VW Group has asserted its political weight at the negotiating table by unhinging a history of over 70 years and Liberty Media had no problem in pushing the rules towards a very American vision of racing that is very different from the European tradition: whoever has the best driver and builds the most competitive car wins.
Everyone is looking after their best interests and they are right to do so, but it must be pointed out that with the excuse of cost savings we are close to having a power unit “equal for all”, which means that between one power unit and another there will be fewer differences.
From next year, the budget cap for engine manufacturers will be set at 95 million dollars per year: it is right to put a budget cap on expenses, but not to take away the freedom of research, as pointed out by Franco Nugnes for Motorsport Italy. It is no coincidence that the date of August 16 was chosen for the meeting of the FIA World Council: the Formula 1 revolution was announced in the height of the summer holidays, with the hope that it would go fairly unnoticed.
And it is not surprising that the engine manufacturers have kept silence on this matter, without commenting on the path that Formula 1 has decided to take, moving away from what many believe to be the right path. It is true that Formula 1 has closed its doors for the summer break, but this silence is deafening.
With these steps Liberty Media, promoter of the championship, is trying to develop a Formula 1 that can become economically self-sufficient in which the logic of profit becomes the guiding light. At the same time, the FIA supports the plans of the Americans, but what is most strange is the fact that the great engine manufacturers currently involved in Formula 1 seem to have no problem with the direction the sport is taking.
In 2026 we will have power units with thermal engines that will return to solutions seen twenty years ago: between architectural limits, material bans and rejected solutions (mobile intake ducts, rather than the pre-combustion chamber) and generalized standard elements, it will be necessary to understand where performance can be found.
Meanwhile, there will be a big leap back regarding the power of the thermal, offset by the increase of the hybrid. About 150 horsepower will be lost: this will make it easier to bring everyone to the same level and very soon the 6-cylinder will become an element, as the gearbox is today, which will have no impact on performance.
Research, in fact, will be left to the development of e-fuel with synthetic fuels which will be the key to a relaunch of internal combustion engines: future mobility will not only be electric, but will also be based on a second option that is diesel engines which are no longer polluting technologies.
Fuel will not be conditioned and e-fuel producers will be able to use Formula 1 to experiment with more efficient and less expensive solutions: the real field of research will be limited to this area. Will the big manufacturers become the ones who will experiment with new fuels? Especially since it is not certain that oil companies are pushing the revolution of synthetic fuels without fossils.
Without oil why should Petronas, Shell and Exxon Mobil stay in Formula 1, rather than BP? The sport must be careful because it could lose the economic support of these brands as in its time it had to give up tobacconists.
In Formula 1 there is no decision that does not have a series of counter-indications: the path of synthetic fuel is important and, indeed, arrives late compared to other automotive disciplines, but one has to ask at what price do you take such a path?
The hybrid part will increase its importance (we have said that it will be worth 50% of the power), but if we will have an MGU-K the same for everyone (even the turbo could become a standard element on the internal combustion engine) the search will only be limited to batteries and electronic management.
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And Formula E has already shown that it has exhausted its function by blocking the development of the electric, after having prompted many manufacturers to believe and invest in the full electric series. Now it is more a marketing operation for brands than a search for innovation. And Formula 1 must be careful not to go in that direction. Where cinema matters more than substance.
Ferrari voted for this revolution in the FIA World Council which it is part of, a sign that John Elkann and Benedetto Vigna have embraced and accepted the vision of the FIA and Liberty Media. If the Scuderia wanted to defend the DNA of F1 it could have opposed using its right of veto, but instead Ferrari decided not to exercise it.
Inside the Ferrari Racing Department and outside among fans there is a lot of disappointment for what seemed to many as a betrayal of the wishes of Enzo Ferrari, the founder. And Mattia Binotto, team principal of Scuderia Ferrari, seems to have remained isolated in front of choices that push the company’s top management to run towards electrification. Mattia Binotto already has enough problems to solve in a 2022 Formula One season that is not giving the results that Maranello deserves, considering the quality of the F1-75 and the two drivers.
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