Following the drama that caused the divorce between Renault and Red Bull Racing, the Milton Keynes outfit was facing a future with no power unit supplier at the end of 2018. Ferrari and Mercedes had refused to provide their arch rival but then up stepped Honda themselves having had a tortured time supplying McLaren.

Then in true corporate Honda style, the big wigs back in Japan decided to pull their support for Formula One and once again Red Bull were facing a future without a power unit. This was when the conversation at the energy drinks company to build their own power unit became a reality. Of course Honda then decided to remain in the sport beyond the new power unit regulations in 2026, but the die was cast and Red Bull Powertrains was born.

In parallel to Red Bull’s relationship woes, the FIA were searching for new power unit manufacturers to join Formula One. Porsche appeared to lead the way in the working group and together with Mercedes they pushed for a new F1 power unit based on the V6 turbo hybrids currently in use. As it turned out, Porsche never made it across the line to join the grid but they had won the argument being presented by Red Bull that F1 should return to using V8 internal combustion engines with no hybrid but fully sustainable fuels.

 

 

 

FIA publish new regulations

The FIA recently published the Formula One regulations for the 2026 season which will include new powertrains along with new car design specifications too. The rules have been development in conjunction with inout from the teams and the powertrains in particular were the wish of the manufacturers.

The biggest move is to increase the amount of electrical power available three fold so now the internal combustion engine (ICE) will produce just half of the total output with the rest coming from the batteries.

Christian Horner was the first to raise concerns last summer over how the power units will, operate. He claimed that at certain ‘power hungry’ tracks like Monza and Spa Francorchamps the ICE will be merely a generator for the batteries on the longer straights which in itself seems pointless.

 

Red Bull politics affects imminent driver decision

 

 

Too much electrical power

The whole purpose of a hybrid is to recover energy, not to simply have its batteries charged by a generator to ensure some theoretical target of 50/50 contribution from both sides is met.

Toto Wolff mocked Horner’s observations claiming the Red Bull boss’s concerns were because the Red Bull organisation is behind the 8 ball in its brand new powertrain facility. Never has an F1 team attempted to do what the world champions are taking on, starting from scratch and building an F1 engine with no prior experience.

Of course Red Bull decided to take matters into their own hands on the power unit front following years of difficulties with Renault and then Honda declaring itself out of F1 come 2026.

When Honda recanted, it would have been the simplistic solution for Red Bull to remain with the Japanese engine supplier, but having been burnt twice, Milton Keynes is keen to determine its own destiny rather than having to rely on others.

Seidl suffering Audi ‘corporate interference’

 

 

 

FIA: ‘Cart before the horse’

Karun Chandhok recently questioned whether the FIA had put the cart before the horse given the powertrain rules were created and then the chassis has to follow. To recover the amount of energy the new rules require means dumping a whole load of drag, which of course will be the responsibility of the aerodynamic capabilities.

“I think this is the first time I could recall where the chassis rules are being dictated by the engine rules,” he said. “We’ve been used to, in the last 75 years of the World Championship, the engine is the engine – it is whatever it is, plugged into the back of the regulations designed for the chassis with aero, wings, and active suspension coming and going and all that sort of stuff.

“But this is the first time where the PU rules have been defined, and then they’ve gone ‘Oh, hang on a second, we’re going to have to adapt the chassis rules to make sure that the cars aren’t lifting and coasting halfway down the straight’.”

The power unit regulations have been set in stone for sometime, but even the FIA admitted its published regulations last month may require ‘tweaking’ to ensure the chassis performs in a way necessary to support the powertrain.

Schumacher: “Formula 1 is in reach”

 

 

 

Regulations ‘too late’ says Brundle

Martin Brundle too is concerned about the direction of the sport. Speaking on the same Sky F12 podcast as Chandhok he said: “You have to be really concerned about this, because here we are, 22 months away from these cars running, and it’s not defined.

“It’s going to have active aerodynamics as well, with a lot more wing movement than we currently see with the DRS Drag Reduction System and a lot more battery power.

“So the cars are probably going to be heavier, and more complex. They’ve got to get the harvesting and deployment sorted out. It feels to me like these regulations should have been cast in stone a good year or so ago,” concluded the ex-F1 driver.

Now ex-Red Bull driver and broadcaster David Coulthard has added further doubt to the upcoming regulations claiming it will fundamentally change the way the drivers need to approach racing on the same circuits as now.

Mercedes insider ‘leaks’ Hungary announcement

 

 

 

‘Drivers don’t think about new rules’

“I remember years ago, when I was a driver being asked ‘what do I think about the regulations?’ I said I don’t and that was my job at the time,” Coulthard explained in an interview with PlanetF1.

“It’s for Adrian [Newey], the technical team, to think about the regulations. It’s my job to think about the sporting rules, what can I exploit, what are the scenarios where I could gain an advantage? I was very much focused on areas that I could influence.”

Now in the role of F1 observer, Coulthard is concerned about the 50/50 split of power which he claims will change the profile of how the drivers approach a lap.

Zak Brown predicts Red Bull infighting et to return

 

 

 

New hybrids will change the way of racing

“In classic racing terms. Your Vmax [maximum velocity] is at the end of the straights and then you brake into the corner,” explains the Channel 4 presenter.

“There is the potential reality that they’ll accelerate, and then they’ll start decelerating towards the braking zone so your Vmax will be somewhere around the middle of the straight, which is a different way of racing.”

The problem with this is simple. If drivers are slowing towards the braking zone to regenerate battery, the braking points become later and later and as Coulthard explains, “so Daniel Ricciardo’s dives on the inside may not happen.”

Coulthard’s college and fellow ex-Red Bull driver Mark Webber believes, the ever complex technology being brought to the new powertrains will merely increase weight – which in turn requires even more safety features which feeds the cycle of an ever increasing mass of an F1 car.

Marko silent on Lawson future despite highlighting RBR young drivers

 

 

 

FIA dropped the ball on weight

“The weight is a big problem. I mean, they’re just too heavy. All the drivers would love the cars to be lighter and when you put in another 20 kilos in, you’ve got to put more weight in to make it safer.”

The FIA claim they are targeting an overall weight reduction of 25-30 kilos when the new rules are finalised which at best is a 3.8% reduction in weight from the current F1 cars.

“30 kilos less is like one string on a tennis racket,” says Webber. “It’s nothing. So they need to really try to get 150 kilos out of the car in the future.”

Webber argues lighter cars are in fact safer and gives the following example: “I have crashed in the same corner in a light Formula 1 car and a heavy sports car in Brazil and in the impact, it is really not helpful to have the extra weight because the drivers are still part of that inertia. So to have a lighter car is much safer.”

Key talent to Aston Martin who defeat rivals interest

 

 

 

Hope for a V8 future

Formula One and its fans are stuck with the new hybrid power units until well into the 2030’s although there is hope on the horizon stemming from FOM’s CEO Stefano Domenicali, who reveals there were discussions about returning to V8 internal combustion engines and running on sustainable fuel.

“My personal opinion is that it would be enough to run on climate-neutral fuel. But we had to take into account the wishes of the manufacturers. Developments have gone so fast that a decision today might be different from what it was two years ago. 

“I am not an engineer, but I have to have a vision of what the sport will look like in the future. And I can imagine that with the next regulations, we can focus on sustainable fuel,” Domenicali said in a recent interview with Auto Motor und Sport.

“If we can show that we can produce zero emissions with it, we can regulate other important sustainability issues. Cars and engines would then become lighter and less complex again. And the engines would have good sound again. That is important for the fans. But for now, we have to focus on the next step, not the one after that,” concluded the former Ferrari team principal.

Ex-Ferrari boss doubts Hamilton title

 

 

 

Aston Martin boss admits to a Stroll ‘Plan B’

With Mercedes and Haas apparently set to make an announcement about Esteban Ocon’s future in Hungary, Aston Martin are one of just four teams who have two contracted drivers for the 2025 Formula One season.

Despite Red Bull being one of the others, noises emanating from Milton Keynes suggest Sergio Perez may suffer a review during the summer break and be found wanting from a lack of performance clause in his contract signed this year.

Red Bull have found themselves in a pickle having backed Perez for two more years, but since his new deal the Mexican’s results have fallen off a cliff. The team missed out on the obvious choice to replace Sergio, with the impressive Nico Hulkenberg, but he was signed by Sauber/Audi just as Checo’s results were taking a nose dive… READ MORE