F1 engine development 'must be road-relevant' says FIA

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Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, says that the future direction of engine and power unit development in the sport must keep it relevant to manufacturers working on road cars.

New engine rules and specifications will come into effect in 2026 and will feature an increased reliance on battery power, aiming for a rough 50-50 split between electrical sources and internal combustion engines.

That is in line with a shift in road cars around the world, with many countries looking at enforcing a ban on sales of new cars using traditional petrol-driven engines, and demanding a change to all-electric vehicles.

Car makers will only invest in F1 if it contributes to their commercial business which means that F1 must follow the same direction, regardless of the existence of Formula E which has the exclusive remit for all-electric racing.

F1 could instead focus on developing hydrogen power as well as battery technology. All options are in play beyond 2026, as the FIA’s head of single-seater matters Nikolas Tombazis at the end of last year.

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“The step for 2026 is defined, but what we do in the next step afterwards is still up for discussion,” Tombazis told selected media in a recent briefing.

“There are a lot of options still on the table," he continued. "Whether it is more sustainable efuels, whether it is hydrogen in which we have quite a lot of work happening in the FIA, or whether it is more electrical.

“But we always want to remain relevant to what the OEMs [Original Equipment Manufacturers] that are participating want to do. We cannot go in a completely random direction that is not related to the road car.

“We need to remain road-relevant," he added. "That is the key objective, and I think anyone who walks around the paddock can see there is a huge amount of challenge to tackle.

F1 has already set a target to be net zero by 2023, but emissions from the cars themselves are only a small part of the sport's impact on the environment.

“The element of the cars themselves, as a proportion of the overall carbon footprint, is very low,” Tombazis pointed out. “I think it is less than two per cent overall.

“It's obvious that our overall responsibility for the sport needs to tackle also the other 98 per cent - and that has to be covered with logistics, materials, numbers of components, calendars, a lot of things.

“But the car side is important from a technological point of view, in relation to the OEMs that are participating being able to work on technologies," he argued.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.