All eyes were on Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson as the F1 circus rolled into Japan on Friday and as sure as eggs are eggs the predictable upset played out in the practice sessions. Lawson had a steady outing in FP1 but come the end of a fragment afternoon’s practice, the New Zealander placed his Racing Bull ahead of Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda on the time sheets.
Another driver under pressure was Jack Doohan who inexplicably was benched for FP1 whilst Alpine’s reserve Japanese driver Ryo Hirakawa made his debut for the team. Four laps into the afternoon session and Doohan had a huge impact with the barrier, destroying his A525 in the process. The Aussie was rushed to the medical centre but later it was confirmed he had suffered no ill effects and was not concussed in the incident.
More time was lost in FP2 when Fernando Alonso beached his car on the grass and two grass fires erupting around the circuit saw the session red flagged another twice. But it is off track where the big news is brewing as the FIA confirmed they have scheduled a meeting with the power unit manufacturers to discuss in detail proposals to scrap the 2026 F1 engines before their expected lifespan.
FIA says 2026 engines “way too expensive”
The FIA’s man in charge of day to day F1 affairs, Nicholas Tombazis had dropped a bombshell last time out in China when he suggested the power units expected to debut next season, are “way too expensive” in the current global climate. Further he questioned whether the 2026 engines need ever see the light of day by extending the current regulations and returning to V10 non-hybrid units as early as 2028.
Of course this would be difficult given Renault are quitting their F1 engine building programme at the end of this season and neither Red Bull nor Audi who have been developing units to the 2026 specifications do not have current power units. Tombazis emphasised if the decision was made to bring in V10 bio fuel powered engines in 2028, “If there was ever any such decision, what would happen in the intervening period we’d have to see. But we would never unilaterally change something and impose something without full discussion.”
Now that discussion will take place in seven days time in Bahrain with all the manufacturers present. Red Bull and Ferrari are keen on ditching the V6 monsters, but foe different reasons. The Ferrari road car business model has always meant the Italian manufacturer prefers to retain their iconic engine notes which are muted in the electrification process.
Red Bull believe the return to non-hybrids and bio fuel addresses the 2 billion road vehicles already in existence which can never be converted to hybrids. It is also a much simpler task to design and build a classic V10 or V8 engine, rather than the complex and heavy hybrids which next year will have three times the amount of electrical power as the current breed.
Honda behind schedule
Mercedes appear to be ambivalent on the matter, although Toto Wolff was surprisingly not against a conversation on the subject. Previously the Mercedes boss has been a huge defender of the hybrid powertrains, particularly when Mercedes’ had the most dominant units.
Audi issued a bland statement following the Chinese Grand Prix, but it suggested that the German manufacturer had joined F1 particularly because of the 2026 engine challenge, yet even the renown German auto brand will be suffering the same economic headwinds as its competitors and the statement was not conclusive as to Audi’s view on the current conversations.
Honda too are yet to respond, but they recently admitted they are behind schedule on their 2026 power unit development. “We aim to submit the power unit for homologation in February [2026],” HRC boss Kakuda said. “Since we started a bit later, we want to continue development until the very last moment.”
Whilst developing components this late allows Honda to find gains to the very last minute, it conversely hampers their reliability testing where certain components remain on the test dyne’s for weeks as they are tested to destruction. The very fact F1 is discussing this topic at all is shocking, given the lateness in the day certain issues are now coming to light.
V10’s allow more competitors
There remain concerns that the 2026 power units were ill conceived. The demand for a threefold increase in electrical power to 50% of the total output was always ambitious. Yet the way of the world appeared to be greater electrification when this set of rules were agreed but now the focus has shifted in the industry towards improving and developing bio fuels.
The spectre of “Frankenstein” cars looms large on the horizon, as a number of senior paddock individuals have suggested the only way to meet the 50% electrical output standard is by artificial means. Its been suggested that at times the drivers will be forced to drop down a gear when on a straight, merely to create more electricity as the ICE acts only as a generator of electricity.
This is not innovation, but a pointless activity merely conceived of to meet the 50% electrical output objective. To scrap the introduction of the 2026 power units would require agreement from all the manufacturers, but to limit their lifespan to two years only requires four from five votes.
Having more simple engines would open the door to the likes of Cosworth to join the sport, a company who remain third in the all time list of F1 manufacturer wins. They in association with Gordon Murray Associates recently completed a normally aspirated V12 engine for the T.50 car which was heralded by the the industry as the “greatest ever road going V12,” with its top end efficiency, lightweight design and high revving power band.
Break the manufacturers F1 control
The F1 V6 hybrid power units are never going to make their way into the mass produced road cars of tomorrow and despite the advance of electrification there are questions over how green these machines really are, when taking into account the rare earths required and huge increases in weight they bring to the party.
It’s almost inconceivable the 2026 hybrids will be dropped altogether and for now Cadillac do not have a vote on the matter. It could be F1 is pivoting away from its dependency on certain manufacturers who come and go as they please and by using more simple technologies the days of manufacturers wielding undue power in F1 will be over. It was of course global giants of the automotive industry who decided the F1 hybrids were the way to go, but Stefano Domenicali suggests if the decision were being made now, the hybrids would be dumped.
However those hoping for a return to the nimble cars of the early 2000’s will be disappointed given the weight of the F1 current hybrids – including batteries – is similar to that of the Cosworth GMA V12 for the T.50. Initially the cars would also be required to carry more fuel given the efficiency of the V6 hybrid turbos is greater than Cosworth’s V12.
Yet the fact these conversations are taking place would suggest there is genuine concern over the new 2026 power units – and at this late stage that is genuinely astonishing. Whether its due to Frankenstein type features or merely finance is not clear at present, but customer teams would pay a fraction for a V10 engine that they pay for the current complex hybrids. But they don’t get a vote.
Ferrari reveal new factor in underweight car in China
The double disqualification of the Ferrari drivers from the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix, came as a huge shock to the paddock. For an F1 team to have one car disqualified for technical reasons is rare, but never in Ferrari’s F1 history have they had two cars thrown out of the final classification, truly a low point for the iconic team
The team did not fight the decision of the stewards in China issuing a statement which said: “Following the FIA post-race scrutineering both our cars were found not to conform to the regulations for different reasons…. we will learn from what happened today and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again.”
Of course the blame game in the Italian media was instantaneous and brutal. “Chaos,” “a disaster” and “an embarrassment” screamed the back page headlines in Italy with some suggesting that Hamilton had already lost faith in his new team after just two race weekends… READ MORE
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There is no way this is happening. Audi signed up specifically for the challenge of the new regulations. Mercedes isn’t going to endorse this especially because it’s looking like they will have the strongest engine from the beginning again. Honda will have less than zero interest, Alpine isn’t going to produce engines no matter what format they are.
I could possibly see Ferrari or GM going either way, but GM doesn’t get a vote yet. So basically this whole thing is Red Bull finding out the hard way that engine development is really difficult and wanting to change course. It’s not like they will have any more luck developing a V10 but maybe they hope to a entice Cosworth to re-enter the sport?