[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by Tourer

Thought I'd resurrect this thread to add this article from Autosport - some comments made by Stefano Domenicali about F1 going back to ICE on sustainable fuels and doing away with hybrids in the future.

Seems like AT LAST someone in a position of power "gets it". The current cars are too big, too heavy, too bloated due in large part to the hybrid powertrains which also result in the relative lack of sound.

Honestly don't know if he's whistling in the dark, or if he has any serious chance of getting such a change up (would still be a few years away unfortunately) but I'd vote for it in a heartbeat!

Fair play to him.

I was about to post the same in this thread. The momentum against the 2026 regulation direction seems to be building. Sure the ones representing the manufacturers (Mercedes and Renault) are doing their best to protect it, but the resistance is coming from increasingly more and more important angles.


The FIA boss:
https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/fo...cars/10480626/

F1 boss:
https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1...nes-/10495952/

Horner:
https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/ur...rner/10489537/

Verstappen:
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/v...ream/10492339/

Hamilton as well in the past:
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/h...konen/6530045/

Gary Andersson:
https://the-race.com/formula-1/gary-...be-bad-for-f1/


Vettel:
https://the-race.com/formula-1/vette...in-the-future/

“The question is always whatever technology you run in a car – and I can mostly speak for F1 – is how much of a technology transfer actually happens to the road?,” Vettel said in a response to a question from The Race on the future of F1’s engines.
“If there is none then you have to ask the question ‘what is the point in what we’re doing and can we do better?’ If there is a lot of it [road car transferability] then obviously there is a purpose."

I strongly agree with the point Vettel is making. There is very little technology transfer to the road, it's all fake, marketing and greenwashing and at the expense of racing.


It seems the momentum is tilting and to me it feels like the manufacturers don't have enough collective influence to prevent the status quo to change.

In the wheel size thread I said this:

Originally Posted by Taxi645

There is a solution; a V6 turbo with a simple KERS system would require only a small light energy storage solution and could be run on synthetic fuel.

That way they could:
- Stick with the current V6 turbo architecture.
- Call it hybrid
- Use sustainable fuel
- Have smaller environmental footprint overall due to lower production and logistic costs.
- Have a much smaller powerunit, which in turn allows smaller cars that again way less.
- Have a much much lighter end solution.

A sub 700kg car would be easily possible with all current safety improvements and the current cheaper common parts.

I think the reason they don't go for this solution is because:

- They want to be on a trajectory towards full electric in order to appear advanced and environmental friendly (while in fact the V6 turbo KERS overall would be a better solution also on that front.
- They want to be prepared if there is a big jump in battery tech and full electric racing would become F1 worthy.
- If they would go for a light solution the first full electric rules set some time after that would present a mayor weight increase and therefore draw a lot of criticism.

I think battery tech that would allow F1 levels of performance (lightweight handling wise) is still far away because energy density is just not improving anywhere fast enough. Eventually they might approach the lap times, but it would not be in the lightweight spirit and tradition of F1. To me it's a shame to compromising the performance of F1 cars that much that early because of unnecessary weight. There is enough time to transition to higher electric component in the drivetrain later because, as said, the battery tech to allow full electric F1 performance cars is still very far out.

I could imagine this could be a direction they are considering; Smaller and lighter power unit, smaller and lighter cars, smaller and lighter wheels.

One wonders though, if what they are thinking is after 2026 we quickly need something lighter (which would seem a terrible waist of resources) or perhaps postpone the rule changes one year and then do it right in one go?