Last Updated on April 29 2026, 2:19 pm
The revolution in Formula One for the 2026 season, with all-new engines and active aerodynamics, has on the whole failed to win over the fans of the sport. The massive increase in the electrification of the V6 hybrid turbos has proven to be more problematic than was envisioned.
Much of this is due to the FIA submitting to the demands of the auto manufacturers, who refused to countenance proposals which would have seen the electrical energy contribution dialed down from its current level of 50%.
In Bahrain last season, there was a high-stakes summit between the FIA, Liberty Media—who control the commercial rights to the sport—and the six confirmed 2026 Power Unit (PU) manufacturers: Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault (Alpine), Honda, Audi, and Red Bull-Ford.
F1 manufacturers defy FIA in Bahrain
At the time, simulation data had been accumulated which rang alarm bells over the labeled “Frankenstein” cars, which were predicted to be super fast but run out of juice halfway along the straight, forcing drivers to shift down through the gears to harvest more electrical energy.
The FIA and certain teams proposed a reduction in the electrical contribution down from the planned 350kW to around 280kW to ensure the ICE remained the primary driver of the car’s top speed.
Yet this was met with a wall of resistance from Audi and Honda in particular, who insisted they had only joined F1 due to the high-end electrical marketing opportunities this would deliver. The case was put that changing the “DNA” of the new F1 era just 12 months before the cars and engines were set to debut would be catastrophic and, indeed, a breach of contract.
Engineering pride was at stake as the manufacturers believed they could solve the substantial drop-off in power through software energy management algorithms. They pressed the case that billions had been spent collectively on developing the power units to target 350kW of electrical power and that it was too late in the day to change this.
Wolff demands no big F1 ‘catch up’ advantage
F1 had to break one of its long-standing commitments over active aerodynamics controlled by the drivers to ensure the chassis could cope with the massive increases in torque the high levels of electrical energy would bring.
The result was that F1 now prioritised manufacturer marketing over the basic principles of racing enshrined for three-quarters of a century. Now the FIA has been forced to intervene given the predictions made have come to pass—and some—and so the total amount of electrical power available each lap has been dialed down.
In his latest missive, Nikolas Tombazis—the FIA’s day-to-day head of F1—states that no longer will the FIA be driven by the F1 manufacturers. Next up are decisions to be made shortly over which engines are eligible for the FIA’s ‘catch-up’ programme, and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is keen to retain their baked-in advantage in this area.
F1 ‘Catch up” programme not a “balance of performance”
“The tool is there to catch up, not to leapfrog,” says Wolff, terrified that a “catch-up” allowance will turn a 0.3s Mercedes lead into a deficit come the start of 2027. Tombazis confirms this point of view, re-stating: “Let’s not forget that the ADUO is not, as some might say, a balance of performance system.
“It’s not like you’re suddenly going to get better fuel flow or less weight or anything like that. We’re looking to offer a bit more of an opportunity—but you still have to build the best engine to win. We’re not going to give 3 points to the guy behind you,” the Greek FIA official asserts.
The potential escalating row over the FIA’s ADUO—Additional Design and Upgrade Opportunities—programme is partly due to the fact that no specific method of measuring the power output was outlined last year. Internal combustion engines suffering a greater than 2% deficit to the class of the field will be entitled to incremental budget and testing time to improve their performance.
It appears the manufacturers somewhat shot themselves in the foot last season when the FIA offered a complex methodology to assess power deficits. “We’ve had long discussions about the fact that an engine’s power doesn’t boil down to a single number,” Tombazis explains. “We offered to consider various things, but the position of all the manufacturers was that we should simplify.”
Honda, Audi and Red Bull-Ford expect ‘catch up’ eligibility
As Wolff concedes, Honda will definitely be eligible for the ADUO, although Audi disagrees with the Mercedes boss’s assessment that they are on a par with the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull-Ford. Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies also puts Mercedes considerably ahead of the field, claiming they are “a long way ahead, some 0.3 seconds per lap.”
The original timeline for the first ADUO opportunity was set after round six, the Miami Grand Prix. Yet with the loss of the Bahrain and Saudi Grands Prix, some believe the FIA will kick the decision into the long grass until after Monaco—the new round six of the 2026 season.
For now, Tombazis is emphasizing the next job for the FIA is to see how the recent changes agreed to the contribution from the hybrid energy management systems pan out, although he is not expecting any kind of radical change. “Don’t expect revolutionary changes,” he said this week. “We’ll see a more flat-out qualifying session for the drivers,” he did concede.
FIA will no longer be beholden to auto manufacturers
The changes are not a once-and-forever moment in time, as the FIA will continue to monitor whether they are delivering on the drivers’ objectives. Further, in a cautionary note to the manufacturers who forced the FIA’s hand, Tombazis makes it plain this will no longer be the case going forward.
“There was strong pressure to make the electric component much larger [than we wanted], and perhaps the potential of electric power was overestimated,” said Tombazis. “Everything is on the table, even the simplest engines,” he added, suggesting the next era of F1 power will be very different from the present.
“We can’t be held hostage by automakers who decide for themselves whether to participate in our sport or not,” Tombazis insists. Yet the landscape has changed in F1 since these early decisions were made back in 2017. Then, there was the real possibility of Red Bull having no engine supplier, following their fall-out with Renault, and Mercedes and Ferrari refusing to have them as customers.
Now F1 is booming globally and the likes of Audi and Ford are desperate to be associated with the sport. And while the start for Audi has been muted, their long-term plans to win titles by 2030 remain the key objective for the German auto brand.
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A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13 and a career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media. Having trained in investigative journalism and contributed to several European sports outlets, Hunt brings rigour and polish to every article. His role is to sharpen analysis, check facts and ensure TJ13’s daily output meets the highest editorial standards.
