F1 Pulls Plug On V10 Talk Distraction, Hybrids Will Continue If You Like It Or Not
The President of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, threw a giant metaphorical Molotov cocktail into the F1 paddock and walked away while the teams were left to defend themselves from the flames. Back in February Sulayem pushed for the series to abandon its advanced hybrid turbocharged V6 engine regulations for the 2026 season in favor of a move back to V10s. With teams likely already having completed millions of dollars in development and testing of their new powertrains, suggesting an abrupt change in direction at the 11th hour does nothing but hurt the FIA's credibility as a sanctioning body. After a meeting of F1 engine suppliers (which would include Mercedes, Audi, Red Bull/Ford, Cadillac, Ferrari, and Honda) the V10 idea was resoundingly shot down. The plan to increase electric propulsion and reduce dependence on gasoline will move forward, as intended.
Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes told Motorsport.com that this is the "right choice" for the future of the sport. "I think for us as a team, obviously, we're just happy it's clarified and it's now business as usual for 2026," Oakes continued. "I think there's been a little bit of a distraction the past few weeks with things being said just to know where we stood and keep continuing what we're doing." He went on to call the move "definitely the right choice."
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There was no way that manufacturers would ever sign on to completely scrapping their high-dollar hybrid plans in order to switch back to an engine formula the series abandoned twenty years ago. F1 is supposed to be the pinnacle of tech, and internal combustion engines are increasingly becoming yesterday's news. Why would any of these manufacturers want to build to a set of regulations completely incongruous with the future of their respective road cars?
Not only did teams reject a move to non-hybrid V10s, the engine manufacturers decided that there would probably never be an F1 without hybrid involvement, confirming that hybrid power will "be part of any future considerations." Despite Sulayem's insistence that F1's green ambitions can be accomplished with so-called sustainable fuels, teams were adamant that this wasn't enough. For the manufacturers using F1 as a test bed for the future of electric propulsion tech, the hybrid drivetrain and energy recovery systems are incredibly important for race-to-road tech transfer.
New for 2026, each manufacturer will be building new cars from the ground up with all-new engines. Not only will the cars be smaller and lighter, requiring tighter packaging, but the drivetrains will be upgraded, deriving a much higher percentage of their power from the electric motors. The current 1.6-liter turbocharged engines make about 750 horsepower with an additional 160-ish horses coming from the hybrid boost. For 2026 the gasoline engines will be de-tuned to around 540 horsepower with the hybrid electric motors being cranked up threefold to around 470 ponies. Altogether, that means Formula 1 cars will frequently be producing over 1,000 horsepower in race trim.
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