F1’s nightmare at Silverstone largely came and went without much comment. This was mostly due to the fact it was a Sprint weekend, and with four competitive sessions, much of the media focus was on the racing. Yet there were clues to the F1 disaster unfolding this season: Lewis Hamilton was passed as though he was standing still for the lead of the Sprint by Kimi Antonelli, and then again by George Russell in the Grand Prix.
The Roots of the 2026 Engine Crisis
The new generation of F1 cars and power units were conceived around 2017, when an FIA working party was created to discuss the next era of F1 power. Its primary focus was to ensure F1 attracted new and more engine manufacturers, following a decade when a number had left the sport, leaving power unit supply thin on the ground.
More manufacturers meant more money into the sport, which was reeling from the loss of three teams who had all gone bust. At the time, F1 was in a perpetual state of being short of cash. With no cost cap in place, most of the big bucks went to the big teams.
Porsche, Audi, and Toyota all participated in the discussions over the new power units, which were initially set to debut in 2020. While there was agreement amongst the manufacturers that hybrid was the future of the global automotive industry, little else was confirmed and no new power unit suppliers were prepared to commit to joining F1.
To this end, the FIA decided to postpone the new era of F1 power and, as some form of punishment to the existing manufacturers, decided to freeze all power unit development from 2022 to 2025. Under threat of this freeze on engine technology development extending up to 2030, more serious discussions began for the next timeline of 2026.
Manufacturer Politics and the 50/50 Power Split
A Porsche deal to buy half of the Red Bull Racing team fell by the wayside, as Christian Horner explained that the German corporate decision-making processes were not aligned with the fast-paced requirements of an F1 team. Audi began a lengthy process of buying out Sauber, while Ford replaced Porsche as Red Bull’s new engine partner.
Honda once again changed their collective mind, reversing a 2020 decision to leave F1. Cadillac was late to the party, arriving as a political solution to the Andretti 11th team application to join the sport. The consensus amongst most of the manufacturers was that hybrid remained the future of road car technology, with the FIA’s Nikolas Tombazis later revealing one executive said they “would never build an internal combustion engine again.”
With electrification becoming more important in the global automotive market, the decision was made to boost the hybrid power output from around one-sixth of the total power to an equal 50% partner with the internal combustion engine.
Warning Signs and the “Frankenstein” Reality
Immediately, Red Bull raised concerns, with Christian Horner describing the likely resulting cars and engines for 2026 as “Frankenstein cars.” He outlined how cars would run out of battery halfway along a straight, and how we would occasionally see the farcical situation where the ICE is merely acting as a generator to charge up the hybrid unit.
Toto Wolff mocked the Red Bull boss, claiming Horner was trying to distract the world of F1 from his team’s engine programme, which was lagging behind schedule. The Mercedes boss stated there was “zero chance” the regulations would be changed.
Come Melbourne this season, it quickly became evident that the Red Bull simulations and comments from Horner were bang on the money. Cars were running out of battery and slowing visibly, while others overtook them on full battery deployment, creating massive speed differentials. One minute a driver had 1,000 bhp with full electrical deployment; the next, they had just under 500 bhp as the ICE was both pushing the car forward and generating electricity.
Certain circuits will be far worse than others. Since Melbourne and before Silverstone, the FIA had largely ‘got away with it’ given that the track configurations allowed for a significant amount of braking and therefore natural electrical energy harvesting opportunities.
Spa Exposes the Power Deficit
Now F1 has arrived in Belgium, a notch higher on the energy-starved scale than Silverstone. The drivers remained tight-lipped over their experience of track running on Friday. But come qualifying, the obvious lack of power in the cars was plain for all to see.
One of the grid’s more senior drivers and a GPDA director has now called on the FIA to investigate how this farcical state of affairs came about. Carlos Sainz, who dragged his overweight Williams into Q2, was keen to give his views after the session.
The Williams driver revealed the stupidity of the all-new power unit regulations as they stand, and how they have affected the challenge of one of the most iconic F1 venues. “No one out there is enjoying the qualifying lap as much as we did last year,” said Sainz.
“I think we all know this is not good enough. That needs to change. It will change. It will evolve. But yeah, hopefully next year is a step better and the year after another step better. But whoever saw these simulations in 2022, 2023 and didn’t look at it and say, ‘How can we even accept that?’ needs to review what happened there because it should have never happened,” the Spaniard concluded.
The FIA’s Impotence Against Automotive Giants
The reality of the situation is that these simulations were done—at least by Red Bull, as we know—but such was the power of the manufacturers that the FIA was impotent to insist they reduce the 50/50 split of power source.
In fact, such were the concerns of the FIA that early in 2025 they held a huge showdown with the manufacturers in an attempt to insist they shift this balance of power more in favour of the internal combustion engine. The Bahrain meeting saw FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem offer the manufacturers the option of continuing with the older engines until a better design had been developed.
Audi and Honda in particular insisted the rules remain as they were, claiming this was the only reason they joined or stayed in the sport. Just three races into this season, the FIA convened a meeting prior to Miami in an effort to persuade the manufacturers to allow a specification change for 2027, where the internal combustion engine would become responsible for 60% of the total power output. The manufacturers refused.
Secondly, the FIA proposed certain tweaks to the regulations governing harvesting and deployment for this season in an effort to smooth out the sudden deceleration the drivers were complaining about.
Finally, the manufacturers agreed to changes for 2027, but it will only be 2028 before the power ratio becomes 60% ICE and 40% battery. As Max Verstappen does regularly, he spoke his mind over the farce the new power units are making of the historic Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
“For most of sector two, you run just on the engine. So, what is that? 450bhp, 500bhp? Something like that, which is, I guess, more or less what a Formula 3 car has, but with F1 downforce. So, you can imagine, of course, that that is not very exciting to drive. But honestly, I don’t want to sit here and complain again, because probably someone will shoot me outside the door,” joked the quadruple world champion.
Ruining Iconic Corners: The Drivers Speak Out
Oscar Piastri of McLaren made a similar point: “A lot of the places now we only have the combustion engine giving us power. So, you come out of some corners [when there is battery power] with close to 1,000 horsepower, and you come out of other corners with 550, 600, whatever it is. Getting your head around that is pretty tough. It’s definitely been more challenging in some ways, but it’s been a pretty different Spa to previous years,” said the Australian.
He went on to bemoan the fact that one of the most daring high-speed corners on the F1 calendar, Pouhon, is now merely “a bend in the straight because it’s not a corner anymore.”
For the Grand Prix, the dominant Mercedes power unit should prevail, with the Silver Arrows cars having more efficient deployment systems. Yet somehow, Max Verstappen happened to be quicker than the Mercedes duo in the energy-starved sector two—at times by 0.3 seconds.
If he can get ahead of Kimi Antonelli at the start, there’s a slim hope his sector two advantage may be enough to put sufficient distance between himself and Antonelli to defend when back on the straights. And if the racing at Spa is farcical, come Monza it will be a disaster.
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A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
