F1 could ditch a core part of its 2026 engine plan
The Race can exclusively reveal that F1 chiefs will discuss with teams next week the idea of a significant change to the 2026 engine rules aimed at heading off fears about cars running out of energy
Formula 1 chiefs will discuss with teams next week the idea of a significant change to the 2026 engine rules aimed at heading off fears about cars repeatedly running out of energy, The Race can reveal.
The idea would mean F1 moves away in races from the 50/50 power split between the internal combustion engine and battery that has been a core principle of the new regulations.
As work continues behind the scenes on the design of the all-new turbo hybrid power units, worries have been repeatedly aired about the possibility of them having a bad impact on the racing.
The biggest concern is that there will not be enough harvesting to allow for as much battery deployment as teams would like.
For some power-sensitive tracks such as Monza, there have been worries that cars could run out of energy halfway down the straight - providing not just a poor spectacle but huge frustrations for drivers too.
Efforts have been made by the FIA to tweak the rules and minimise the prospect of cars running out of energy too early, which includes what is known as a 'turn down ramp rate' that prevents teams burning all their energy too quickly coming out of a corner.
Instead, power can only be reduced gradually, which effectively forces teams to stretch their use of energy deployment further along a straight.
While some manufacturers believe the current regulations are enough to prevent problems at most tracks, not everyone is convinced - and the FIA has been conducting further analysis of the situation.
The Race has learned that, as part of a push to minimise the risk of problems in races, a proposal has been put forward for discussion at next week's F1 Commission meeting to introduce a major change to the regulations.
While the 50/50 power split between the ICE and battery will remain in place for qualifying, an idea has been tabled for a major shift for the races.
The proposal is that battery power deployment be reduced from the current 350kW down to 200kW for races. This will shift the ICE/battery power ratio from 50/50 to 64/36. The split is 85/15 in the current F1 regulations.
The idea behind the move is that, with less power being deployed, what energy the battery has stored up can be unleashed over a much greater distance of the lap, and especially for a longer time down the straights.
While the reduction in power, equivalent to 200bhp, will have an impact in holding back acceleration immediately out of a corner, sources have indicated that the performance profile around a lap will be more consistent as cars are running less of the lap without any battery power at all.
One of the other added benefits of the change is that, with the override overtake element remaining at 350kW, more overtaking opportunities should be opened up as there will be a bigger offset between cars that have it and those that do not.
The idea of pulling the battery power down from 350kW to 200kW for races has been supported by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who said he thinks it will help avoid the worst of drivers being on economy runs.
"What we desperately want to avoid is a situation where drivers are lifting and coasting from halfway down the straight," he told The Race. "That will frustrate the drivers. It will be bad for the spectacle of out and out racing.
"The FIA have all the info, and waiting until the start of next year to do something is arguably too late. We've still got eight months to sort things out.
"I think the FIA have obviously started to see something that concerns them, and it's only right that they address it with plenty of time, which there still is, in time for next year's rules introduction."
But not everyone is in agreement with the change - and the rule tweak will need support from a super majority of manufacturers if it is to go through.
Mercedes F1 CEO Toto Wolff has made it clear that he is against any move to change the regulations in such a way before the cars are seen in action for the first time.
"I think we should stick to the outcome of the last engine meeting and see how everything pans out next year, rather than try to predict what it's all going to be like," he told The Race.
"The power unit manufacturers have said clearly in the meeting last Friday in Bahrain, 'Let's get going, push the pause button for the moment, and then in 12 months' time, decide whether there's something to do'."
Asked if it would not be better to get ahead of any problems before the season starts, Wolff replied: "I think we can react pretty quickly if there was such a problem.
"But I think it's again gamesmanship, based on guessing and opinion. There is no data supporting any of that [concern]. So it's just another opinion. Yet again."
