Formula 1 is facing the biggest upheaval in its history, because both the rules for the chassis and the engine are changing fundamentally – and this has never happened in this form before. Each change itself is quite manageable. The new Formula 1 engines are also not as big a change as in 2014, when the series reintroduced turbo engines.
The jump from the 2.4-liter V8 naturally aspirated engines to the 1.6-liter V6 turbo hybrids was a completely different one, as Mercedes engine boss Hywel Thomas remembers: “Back then, people looked at it and thought: ‘Oh my God, there are things in there that we really have to reinvent’,” he says in the podcast Beyond the Grid.
“This electric turbo, an electric motor with over 100,000 revolutions per minute – things like that simply didn’t exist. And we had to develop all of that first. That was a huge push and an incredible project. There were a lot of setbacks along the way, but from a hardware perspective it was extremely difficult,” says Thomas.
In that respect, 2026 is a little easier. Because you can look at every single element there – and it already exists. “Sure, not in the F1 context, not in the right size or shape, but it exists,” he says. “In that sense, this rules package doesn’t feel quite as big.”
At least not from an engine perspective.
Wolff and the 400 km/h statement
Table of Contents
Nevertheless, there is of course a lot of talk about the new Formula 1 engines. Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff made headlines with a statement that the cars with the engines now even 400 km/h on the straights could achieve.
“I felt like we needed to give this engine a bit of marketing help because a lot of people were badmouthing it – but it’s an absolutely incredible piece of technology,” says the Austrian.
Because of the number, even the FIA and the track operators have become a little nervous when it comes to safety and the run-off zones. But for Wolff this is just a theory anyway, which can only be achieved if all possible performance is taken together at once.
“But of course: Then the energy is gone on the next straight and you are no longer fast enough there,” he sees no danger of this in practice.
This is how the power output becomes
But how powerful will the new Formula 1 engines be? The FIA originally wanted to see an approximate 50:50 split between electric and combustion engine parts. Because the hybrid part is specified with a maximum of 350 kilowatts (475 hp), that would mathematically result in an output of 950 hp.
But: It is said that the engineers on the combustion engine side have already reached their goal. According to Thomas, the output should ultimately be similar to the current engines – and we’re in the range of just over 1,000 hp.
However, the higher electric share is likely to ensure a different distribution of power: “What we can potentially gain from the electric torque is the following: We no longer have an electric motor on the turbocharger. That means there could be a turbo lag,” explains Thomas.
“We will then possibly fill up this turbo lag with the electric motor. In this respect, the performance at the beginning of the straight should be quite impressive compared to today. But we also know that we have to reduce the speed earlier on the straight because we don’t have enough electrical energy to use it permanently.”
More interaction with the driver
He believes this will also lead to greater interaction between driver and engineer. “It will be about working with the driver to ensure that he has the right energy at the right time: to defend, to attack, to drive as fast as possible,” he says.
“This will definitely require a lot of thought – from the driver himself and from the engineers around him – to understand how to race and how to implement it correctly. And I think that’s a bigger challenge than what we had in a similar area in 2013/2014.”
“I think next year this connection between the power unit, energy and car will be much closer,” said the Mercedes engineer. “The whole concept is so new. The way it’s all put together – there’s a lot of lap time involved.”
Complete innovation in fuel
And that also applies to gasoline, because that is probably where the biggest technical change will be hidden. The fuel will now be 100 percent sustainable and will no longer contain any fossil fuels.
“When I said that we weren’t really reinventing anything, I meant it more from Brixworth’s point of view,” laughs Thomas, referring to Mercedes’ engine location. Because the fuel supplied to Mercedes by Petronas is a leap into the unknown.
“This is an incredible project – truly phenomenal,” he says. “This is one of those projects where the people in charge say: ‘Yes, do it. I know it doesn’t exist yet. I know it sounds impossible, but do it.'”
He emphasizes that even without the issue of sustainability, gasoline will change more than it has in the past 25 years. “It’s a completely new composition – and on top of that there is the requirement that the fuel must be sustainable. You can really take your hat off to the fuel manufacturers,” says Thomas.
“Basically, they’ve restricted the fuel much more to make it much closer to regular gas station fuel. There are clear octane numbers and some other parameters that are much closer to stock fuel. Things that we used to get away with just don’t work anymore.”
He believes that fuel could make a difference in performance, especially at the beginning. “I think everyone will get to a similar level at some point. I just don’t know whether that will be before the first race or later.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
– Das Motorsport.com-Team
