Last Updated on July 12 2025, 11:58 am
The 2026 Formula one season will end almost a decade of dithering from the FIA over the next generation of power units to be introduced into the sport. An FIA working party was established in 2017 to discuss the future of F1 power with the primary goal at the time being to attract more manufacturers into the sport.
This obsession with expanding the number of OEM’s led to a rather different process than has been seen in F1 previously. Given a nigh on blank sheet of paper as the starting point, a wide range of potential powertrain concepts were explored.
At the time it appeared that hybrid power units would be the future on the road car market which was forecast by the likes of Porsche, Audi, Mercedes and Honda. As the discussions dragged on it became clear the intended 2021 deadline for the introduction of the next phase of F1 power would be missed.
Controversial 2025 F1 powertrains
With the arrival of the global pandemic, COVID-19 it was decided to retain the current V6 turbo hybrids first introduced in 2014 but for all development to be frozen from 2022 onwards. The V6 turbo hybrids became the longest running F1 power unit specification ever as their lifespan was extended to twelve years.
When the outline of the proposed architecture for the 2026 power trains was agreed, Red Bull Powertrains and Audi decided to sign on the dotted line. Yet the FIA’s intended expansion of OEM’s became a bit of a damp squib when Renault announced last year they were quitting the sport.
The headline change to the current V6 turbo hybrids finally agreed was a massive increase in the electrical output from currently about 1/6th of total power produced to 50/50 with the internal combustion engine. Simulations quickly began to show that to create that amount of electrical power on the high speed, low amount of braking circuit configurations, the internal combustion engine would at times merely be running to charge up the batteries. This farcical scenario led Christian Horner to describe the new cars and power unties as “Frankenstein machines.”
Even late in the day there have been disagreements amongst the teams over whether the regulations should be altered, with the mix of electrical power turned down to say 60/40 or even less. This required all but one of the manufacturers to agree and whilst Mercedes boss Toto Wolff made his position against any changes clear, there was at least one other who remains nameless who backed the current iteration of the design.
F1 cars already too heavy
F1’s CEO even waded into the debate last season suggesting the current set of power unit regulations were the result of “political manoeuvring” and that the future, if decided upon now, would not include the hatred hybrid solutions. The weight of the electrical systems adds significant weight to the F1 cars which are now the heaviest they have been in the history of the sport.
Whilst the power available is monumental, the drivers complain regularly over the cumbersome nature of the cars when travelling through low speed sections on a circuit. The cars now weight some 900kg when loaded with fuel and the FIA promised a reduction in weight in 2026 and what it described as more nimble cars.
Yet on the announcement of the 2026 car specifications, Lewis Hamilton was less than impressed with the weight saving. “It’s only 30 kilos so it’s going in the right direction but it’s still heavy,” he said. “I have only just seen [the FIA announcement] you have all seen. I have spoken to some drivers who have driven it on the simulator, I haven’t but they said it’s pretty slow, so we will see if it is actually the right direction or not.”
Now having switched allegiances to Ferrari, Hamilton hasn’t changed his opinion on the direction of travel. “I don’t think it’s going in the right direction, personally,” he said at this years Emilia-Romagne Grand Prix.
Ecclestone: Hamilton was lucky in his success
Drivers gagged for “political reasons”
Yet few other drivers have given their opinion on the matter, despite their teams having built complex models and simulations of the incoming F1 powertrains. At the June announcement of the regulations by the FIA, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso stated: ”I think it is impossible probably to achieve 30 kilos already. If the power unit is 50% electric and you need the batteries to support that, cars will just increase 20 or 30 kilos because of the power unit.”
Now Alonso’s team mate speaks up on F1 power in 2026 and claims his fellow drivers may have been gagged for political reasons. “It’s just a bit of a shame we’re just – Formula 1’s just – taking that path of electric energy and we’ve had to shed all the downforce off the cars to support the battery power,” says Lance Stroll. “It should be fun to see some light, nimble, fast cars with a lot of downforce and just simplify the whole thing a little bit. Less so of an energy, battery, championship, science project and more of just a Formula 1 racing championship.”
“I’m not a fan of the direction but if we have a fast car and we’re competitive and we are doing better than everyone else, that’s when you’ve got nothing to complain about,” he said. “I don’t love the idea of the regs though,” added the son of the Aston Martin team owner.
“I think a lot of the drivers can agree on that. Maybe some of them can’t talk about it for political reasons,” concluded the Canadian driver. Whether a team is delivering it’s own power unit or buying one in, its not a good look for the drivers to slag off the efforts of their powertrain supplier. After all it is the FIA under Jean Todt who should carry the can, for trying to be all things to all people and dithering for nigh on a decade.
Leclerc reports 2026 Ferrari will not favour Hamilton’s requirements
Lewis Hamilton, once top dog on the world of Formula One has had a humbling few seasons since dramatically losing the 2021 drivers’ title on the last lap of the last race in Abu Dhabi. It would have been a record breaking eighth F1 championship for the British driver but amidst the chaos of a late safety car and pit stops, Mercedes failed to give their driver the fresh rubber his arch rival had received.
The Mercedes driver began the 2022 season looking as though he was still suffering from a hangover from three months earlier, with just one podium to his name in the first eight race weekends. Lewis recovered somewhat towards the end of the year but was comfortable beaten by his new team mate George Russell in the final standings come the end of the year.
The seven times champion failed to win a single race in 2022-23 but finally his 945 day drought was ended, ironically at the British Grand Prix in 2024 where Hamilton had once been dominant in font of his home crowd. So what changed? Had the crushing experience of 2021 destroyed Hamilton’s competitive edge or was it something deeper which derailed the only driver to reach 100 pole positions and 100 Grand Prix wins?….. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
