Details are beginning to emerge about the crisis cabinet Formula 1 convened for this April, in the wake of the harrowing Japanese Grand Prix. After a flood of criticism and a dramatic drop in viewership, the FIA announced that they would study rule changes, and the first news sounds like music to the ears: goodbye to everything electric.
According to AMuS, the German outlet that has long been close to the VW Group, the FIA is already weighing with Liberty Media and the teams a new technical regulation that bids farewell to all things electric. The new engines would be V8s, and the manufacturers’ only request would be to include a turbo. The big problem is the timing.
The new F1 engines would be 2.4-liter turbo V8s. But they are not expected until 2031
The gathering to decide Formula 1’s future seems to be starting to yield the first signs of white smoke. According to reports in Germany, the organizers and participants in the championship accept that the current technical regulations have been a failure, and they already have a radical engine change in the works.
FIA, Liberty Media, and the manufacturers would have advanced an agreement to remove all things electric from Formula 1 and bring back V8 engines, which have not been used since 2013. They would be 2.4-liter V8 powerplants, but the engine makers have set two conditions to move forward with the organization’s proposal.
The first would be to use 100% synthetic fuel, something they consider sufficient to make the venture sustainable. It wouldn’t represent a major change compared to today, since Formula 1 cars already use 100% synthetic fuel. The second prerequisite is that the V8s be turbocharged, rather than naturally aspirated.
And brands would see that this kind of engine could indeed be exploited for the development of street cars. Notably, brands like Cadillac or Ford, which are involved in Formula 1, are betting on engines very similar in endurance racing. The big question would be when these rules would come into force.
Because for now what is being discussed is a rule change aimed at 2031, when all currently signed contracts expire. The problem is that if in three races under the current technical regulations the audience has already halved, in five years there may be nobody left on the other side. But the manufacturers do not want to give up their multimillion-dollar work just yet.
Once again, the FIA will have to decide whether to allow brands to wreck Formula 1 or take the reins of their business doing what’s best for the customer/fan.
Images | Audi, Honda
