Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has started the new year with his traditional call for the sport to drop hybrid power units and return to the ear-splitting era of V8 combustion engines.
Formula 1 has used 1.6 litre V6 turbo hybrids since 2014, an era that has been dominated by Mercedes with seven consecutive constructors championships. The current technical regulations are due to stay in place until at least 2024.
However fans have lamented the quieter, more efficient engines compared to their boisterous, full-throated predecessors.
The huge response to Fernando Alonso taking his 2005 title-winning Renault V10-powered R245 for a spin in Abu Dhabi last month has renewed calls for F1 to think again and return to the glory days of motor racing - a view clearly shared by Ecclestone.
"Let’s get rid of these bloody silly engines they have now," Ecclestone said in a new interview with Motorsport Magazine. “I’ll be in trouble for this!"
Ecclestone said that reviving V8s for an interim period would solve at a stroke the problem of F1's spiralling costs in developing hybrid technology.
"Let’s dig out all the old normally aspirated engines,” he said. “Everybody’s got them, the costs go right down, the noise will be back, and we can use them for five years while we sort out an engine for the future.
"F1 is in the entertainment business and when you stop entertaining you haven’t got a business," he added. "The people in the grandstands aren’t interested in how super-efficient they are, how much fuel they use, how powerful they are."
A decade ago Ecclestone was persuaded to accept the move to hybrid technology in order to keep F1 aligned with road cars, but he now feels that had been a mistake.
“Formula 1 doesn’t have to be relevant to the car industry,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of changes. Everyone will have electric cars, the politicians will see to that. You won’t be able to take a petrol car into a city.
"People will say, ‘Hang about, all these F1 cars charging round, why aren’t they electric?’ And the manufacturers are going to stop making petrol or diesel cars within a few years."
Formula E already has the franchise for single-seater all-electric motor racing from the FIA, while the World Endurance Championship is revamping its LMDh sports car regulations to replace expensive higher-cost hybrids in favour of electrification in order to get manufacturers like Audi and Porsche to return.
Formula 1 currently has four manufacturers supplying power units to the ten teams on the grid. However Honda has already announced that it is pulling out of the sport at the end of 2021.
That leaves Red Bull and AlphaTauri currently without engines next season. The team bosses are trying to convince the sport to allow them to continue using the current Honda units by introducing a development freeze.
“Honda is going, Red Bull will take the engine but that will only work if the others agree to freeze," acknowledged Ecclestone. "Otherwise they’ll just go on spending God knows what to stay ahead."
However Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari have all re-stated their commitment to supporting and continuing with hybrid technology for the foreseeable future.
They argue that their F1 expenditure is justified by its impact on sales of road car ranges featuring a rising number of hybrid and electric models.
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