With the Formula One drivers title finally decided in Abu Dhabi, by just the two extra points Lando Norris picked up late in the Qatar Grand Prix, all the attention is turning towards the excitement of a huge new technical set of regulations for the cars of the future.

For many F1 fans and pundits alike, retaining the V6 hybrid architecture was m mistake by the FIA. It appeared they even admitted this when calling for a big sit down last season in Bahrain. There it was proposed that the electrical element be cut from its current 50% of the total output, but with more than one manufacturer objecting to this late switch, the plan was dropped.

Of course the FIA retain to right to impose this on a number of grounds should we see the farce of a car running out of power half way along a particularly long straight and the fix would be a software driven approach reading the hardware can stay as designed. 

 

 

 

Road to new PU’s long and arduous

The road to the new F1 power units has been long and arduous and began back in 2017 when the FIA set up a working party to discuss the future if F1 power. Yet for many and varied reasons, no agreement was found ands in 2022 the FIA froze the development of the current PU’s.

Finally the specifications were agreed and in June 2024 the FIA presented them to the world. Carlos Sainz was the first driver to comment on the new PU’s having driven a simulated version for Williams back in July. His first impression was that the workload for the drivers had leapt significantly and that energy management would require a lot of “brain power.”

Since then, few of the drivers who have driven their team’s simulations have had anything complementary to say over F1’s new power. Yet Toto Wolff decided such was there negative spin on the new V6 hybrids, he’d give them some marketing air time.

The Mercedes boss said: “If you were to deploy all the energy on a single straight, you could make those cars go 400 kilometres an hour. I don’t know if somebody got afraid by it, but we could.”

Why F1’s new power units have big issues

 

 

 

FIA quick to respond to Wolff’s bold claim

The “afraid” was a reference to the FIA’s attempt to dial down the balance between the electrical element and the internal combustion engine. The response from the FIA’s head of day to day operations, Nikolas Tombazis was swift and of a cautionary nature.

“From what I heard, he meant to say that, with the power the cars have and with the low resistance the cars have, you could conceivably – if you combine everything together – have cars going over that speed. The way all the energy management regulations work, that is not possible, physically or engineering-wise.”

Tombazis went on to reveal the FIA’s trump card if things didn’t go to plan “we have a strong card to play if necessary, and that is for safety reasons. We could intervene if there was anything, but we are quite confident and quite sure that the regulations don’t permit those sorts of speeds.

“It is the performance envelope of the car; if there were no regulations on any management, that would allow such speeds,” the Greek director explained. Toto Wolff has doubled down on his assertion this week coming close to question whether there FIA needs to look at safety zones on certain circuits. 

Hamilton quits his battle to revolutionise Ferrari F1 team

 

 

 

Wolff suggests FIA are “afraid”

“So, if the FIA was suddenly a little bit worried about, you know, homologation of safety zones of the track, because if you put it all together, we could do 400 or maybe even exceed it, but obviously, you’re going to run out of energy for the next straight and then not be quick enough,” explained the Mercedes team principal.

The power output of the new PU’s will be roughly the same as it is a present, although the increase in electrical power will improve the torque capable of being deployed out of the slower sections of a track.

Honda have now wet everyones whistle for the new powertrains by releasing a sound track of their new engine, posted on Aston martin’s website. Having recovered from a disastrous spell as McLaren’s engine supplier, Honda are leaving the successful relationship they’ve had with Red Bull to parter with the Silverstone based team.

Indycar wins lengthy battle for FIA recognition

 

 

 

Honda PU sneak preview

Within an hour more than 200,000 likes had been posted by fans along with hundreds of positive comments. Whilst not quite the screaming pitch of the old V8’s it is more like F1 of old than the muted hybrids of 2014.

You can hear the driver ripping through the gears as he accelerates away along with rapid downshifts at the end of the track with some engine over run and burbles. Honda have put to bed the concerns that the new F1 powertrains will again be uninspiring and Toto Wolff with this bold marketing claims have fans salivating for spy shots at the first test behind closed doors in Barcelona.

Honda stated earlier this season they would hold off finalising their engine design for FIA homologation until the very last minute in February, which means there could be some changes after the first test at the end of January. The upside of this is the Japanese manufacturer may squeeze some extra performance out of their PU before the architecture is fixed for the year.

Marko out, Vettel in at Red Bull Racing???

 

 

 

Verstappen’s big advantage for 2026 explains Wolff

The down side by leaving this so late may see the Honda PU prone for mechanical failures due to a lack of extensive testing. Toto Wolff believes Max Verstappen will have an advantage in 2026 along with other drivers who spend their spare time racing online.

Max spends a huge amount of time on virtual racing with his Team Redline which races across a number of different series. He even competed in two non-F1 actual races at the Nurburgring in GT4 and GT3 machinery.

Being used to driving virtual simulations, Wolff believes drivers like Max and his own George Russell will adapt more quickly to the energy management required. On the other side of the fence is an already downbeat Lewis Hamilton who has never felt well in a simulator and once revealed he did just about “20 laps a year” in the Mercedes F1 sim.

 

 

 

The real story behind Marko leaving Red Bull

Marko fudges his Red Bull exit explanation – The end of an F1 dynasty was finally complete following the 2025 Formula One season finale in Abu Dhabi. The triumvirate of leaders who had shaped the ashes of the Jaguar F1 programme into a perennial front running championship team have now all left Red Bull Racing.

Adrian Newey was the first to read the writing on the wall as the once disruptive and rebellious F1 team began a transition into its new corporate future. He quit the team in 2024 to ultimately take up another team building role in Silverstone for Aston Martin.

Having received a five year contract extension for leading Red Bull Racing to an all dominant 2023 season, team boss Christian Horner was finally exited by the heir of Red Bull empire builder Didi Mateschitz along with the new corporate colleagues at the company’s HQ in Austria.