Formula 1 is in a decisive week despite there being no races at stake. The FIA must make a definitive decision about what changes will be made to the technical regulations from Miami onward and, in the background, about what the cars will look like in the future. And it has just received good news: Audi is no longer vetoing combustion engines.
Up to now Audi had been the major opposition to a return to combustion, but as that stance leaks out, in FIA meetings with teams and drivers that position is no longer as radical. Now Formula 1 still has to persuade Honda, the other brand that only wants electric engines even if it struggles with them.
Audi Opens the Door to F1 Engines Not Being 50/50
While we continue waiting for the white smoke after the FIA meetings with Liberty Media, teams and Formula 1 drivers, it seems some details are slipping that invite optimism. The most positive is the following: Audi is no longer closed off to 50/50 electric motors.
According to journalists very close to the FIA, Audi is prepared to lift its veto on combustion engines. All this at a pivotal moment when not only are patches to the current failed regulation being discussed, but the outline of the new technical regulation, which theoretically would come into force in 2031, if not sooner, is beginning to take shape.
Currently Formula 1 engines have a precise 55/45 ratio in favor of combustion, 45% of electricity which has proven unsuccessful, mainly due to the poor battery capacity. Audi would now be open to changing the percentage in the patches expected to be applied to this regulation, increasing the combustion share.
But the news is especially good in terms of what the upcoming technical regulation could entail, which theoretically should be settled already this year. The FIA and related media openly talk about returning to pure V8s, 2.4-liter engines with an added turbo. Audi’s approval is crucial to move forward in this direction.
Now the toughest mission will be persuading Honda. Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes and General Motors seemed open to these less electric engines. Once Audi’s problem is resolved, the challenge remains to persuade Honda, which was the other staunch defender of electric engines that have left them propping up the last place in the world championship.
Very soon we should have good news from the FIA about how Formula 1 will look starting from the next Miami Grand Prix.
Images | Audi
