The first political battle recorded in Formula 1 between 2022 and 2023 has come to a resolution. Ferrari, unlike other power unit manufacturers, had not yet formalized its registration for the 2026 Formula 1 season based on the new rules and PU regulation which will see the electrical part of the engine have a lot more importance and will also deliver more power than at present, that will also compensate for the lower one generated from the future V6 internal combustion unit (the other big news is the fact that the fuels will be 100% bio).
The Maranello team, unlike the other engine manufacturers, had not yet signed the document because they were not convinced that Red Bull PowerTrains Limited would be granted the status of new engine manufacturer on a par with Audi and possibly Porsche, a condition which allows the new manufacturers that enter Formula One to be able to invest more money than the engine manufacturers already present (25 million dollars in total over the three-year period divided into 10 million in 2023, 10 million in 2024 and 5 million in 2025) and, above all, to have more testing hours at the dynamic bench.
According to today’s edition of the Italian daily newspaper Il Corriere dello Sport, Scuderia Ferrari will sign the agreement on the 2026 engines because it has not found support or allies in this political battle against Red Bull, which will be granted the status of new PU manufacturers since Honda has declared that it wants to be part of the game in 2026, but in a completely independent way compared to Red Bull PowerTrains. The latter will therefore put itself to the test 100% without relying on the know-how of the Japanese company which will supply the engines to the Milton Keynes team until 2025 only to then become a competitor of Red Bull together with a team that has not yet been identified.
The fact that Mercedes and Renault had no particular grievances regarding the fact that Red Bull was seen as a new engine manufacturer determined the Italian side to drop its requests and sign the agreement to take part in the 2026 championship based on the new power unit regulation.
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