Whilst the on track action kept Formula One fans nailed to their seats as Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri were victorious at the 2025 Chinese GP, a remarkable back story was developing which could shake the sport to its foundations.
The FIA indicated it had opened discussions over scrapping the controversial new F1 power units due to race next season. It appears that the push to create a hybrid powertrain which delivers 50% electrical power and 50% from the internal combustion engine was a manufacturers pipe dream and now the chickens are coming home to roost.
Upping the electrical output by a factor of three appeared to be the silver bullet to engage global automakers, something the FIA has been hoping to achieve for more than a decade. When Red Bull was filing for divorce with their Renault engine supplier and Honda were contracted exclusively to McLaren, for a short while the possibility of a top F1 team having no power unit was a realistic proposition the FIA had to deal with with.
Warnings of “Frankenstein” 2026 F1 cars
Of course Ferrari and Mercedes were unwilling to offer power units to such a significant F1 powerhouse of a team but on the nick of time a deal was done with Honda to replace the French power units.
Honda then stated in 2020 they were quitting F1 to “funnel its corporate resources in research and development into the areas of future power unit and energy technologies, including fuel cell vehicle (FCV) and battery EV (BEV) technologies, which will be the core of carbon-free technologies.”
However, the significant amount of electrical output being specified for the 2026 power units appeared to change the corporate mind of the Japanese manufacturer.
Yet there have been warnings that such an experiment in hybrid technology – which has previously been utilised by road car manufacturers and in F1 as a kind of energy boost or the little brother of the internal combustion engine – were doomed to failure. In the summer of 2023 Christian Horner revealed that Red Bull’s simulations of the new 50/50 hybrid would mean on certain high speed circuits there wouldn’t be enough kinetic energy created to ensure the electrical supply was at 50%.
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This he said would require the drivers to change down a gear or two on the longer straights to engage the ICE as a generator, creating electrical power which would then be immediately deployed. His description of this being akin to “Frankensteins monster” caught the attention in the paddock.
Mercedes Toto Wolff immediately dismissed Horner’s revelations were indicative that Red Bull were nowhere with their 2026 F1 engine programme.
Over the past two year’s there has been an uncomfortable acceptance in the paddock that the FIA will press on with the 50/50 hybrids regardless of the outcome. Horner even suggested a tweak of 10-15% of the power output ratios in favour of the internal combustion engine would solve the problems.
However, the manufacturers now appear to be engaged in some competition to solve a highly complex Rubik’s cube type problem, despite the fact this kind of hybrid will never see its way onto a mass produced road car.
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FIA discussing ditching 2026 PU’s
At the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix, FIA official Nikolas Tombazis revealed the FIA had opened discussions on scrapping the new 2026 50/50 hybrid F1 engines. “I think the right way around to go about it is: do we want three or four years later to go to a different type of power unit? That’s question number one. That looks after the long term for the sport,” Tombazis said.
“If the answer to that is yes, then there’s question number two – what we do in the intervening period. That is definitely a secondary question compared to the primary one.”
What is clear from Tombazis remarks is the fact that the five year cycle expected for the 50/50 hybrids is under serious reconsideration. The earliest the FIA official envisages a switch to a different technology is in 2028 and running the new 2026 power units for a couple of years would not shock anyone when suggested.
However, its the second part of Tombazis remarks which is incredible. He questions if F1 switches to say V10 normally aspirated bio fuel run ICE’s in 2028/29, what do we do in the intervening period? The implication is clear, some believe the 2026 power units should be scrapped before they are fitted into an F chassis.
Audi appear to back 2026 regs
“Certainly the progress with sustainable fuels has led to views that maybe the engines could be simpler. The world economy does lead to views that maybe we should try to cut costs a bit more, and the current power units are way too expensive. That is a fact,” Tombazis concluded.
For Formula One to ditch the 2026 hybrid power units before their agreed lifespan does not require unanimous agreement from the teams and the manufacturers, but a simple majority neither is enough. From the OEM’s four of the five would need to agree to a change in the regulations and Audi appear to have indicated they are happy with the planned status quo.
The Race are reporting that Audi have said in a statement: “The upcoming regulation changes, including the new hybrid power unit regulations set for the 2026 season and beyond, were a key factor in Audi’s decision to enter Formula 1. These power unit regulations reflect the same technological advancements that drive innovation in Audi’s road cars.”
With Red Bull and Ferrari keen on an early switch to V10’s, Mercedes Toto Wolff surprisingly admitted he was open to the discussion. That leaves Honda as the potential kingmaker in the decision over the future of Formula One power.
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Honda may have the key vote
Of course the statement from Audi reflects merely their motorsports division and should the main board of the German manufacturer decider slashing costs by three quarters on an engine programme is now in line with the new world reality, even Audi sport maybe be forced into a decision which they currently don’y seem to support.
The teams will be delighted at the financial divided they would receive from cutting the ridiculously expensive F1 hybrid programme, so its unlikely they would stand in the way of an FIA regulation change.
There’s a feeling that F1 is at a real tipping point at present with all the talk from nowhere coming about a new V10 future for the sport. Ironically the Audi F1 PU programme has repeatedly been reported as behind schedule and it appears that both they and Honda are key to the future of F1 power.
Since Honda made the decision to leave F1, their HRC division has been re-constituted and now has a fair deal of independence from corporate Honda HQ in Japan. This would allow HRC the freedom to pursue its own goals in racing, rather than the marketing vision projected from Japan.
Maybe finally F1 is waking up from its sleep walk to disaster. The hybrid era for global car manufacturers is already over given the bans coming in 2030 and 2035 by the UK and Europe on their future sales.
Hamilton “leaks” poor Ferrari decision which caused DSQ
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times in Shanghai for Lewis Hamilton. On Saturday morning the seven times world champion took the chequered flag for the first time for Ferrari this season.
His win in the Sprint was duly celebrated, but the team took the decision to change the setup on his and Charles Leclerc’s SF-25 cars before Grand Prix qualifying. The result was underwhelming as Hamilton and his team mate then qualified 5th and 6th respectively.
At the start of the Grand Prix, Leclerc took a run down the inside of Lewis and clipped his right rear tyre causing a price of the Ferrari’s from wing endplate to fly off losing the Monegasque driver “20 to 30 points of downforce.”… READ MORE
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Christian Horner HAS been talking of the problems with the 2026 hybrid for quite some time … isn’t it about time SOMEONE took notice?! As 2026 development will have been looked at by teams, will those already-expended costs be EXCLUDED from the cost cap figures for 2026? Surely they should be?
Please can you tell me about the new driver “Oscar pastry” mentioned in your report?
He’s the brother of Pisan.
If they actually cared about the environment, then wouldn’t they let the F1 teams experiment much more, rather than always dictating to them how a power plant should be constructed?
For example, Mercedes and Ferrari both designed some much more efficient 5-stroke engines, years ago, but these were just ignored. ….. and why are there no diesel hybrids?
Whoever wrote this definitely needs to take some English courses.