For the next generation of power units in 2026, F1 plans to keep hybrid engines, but to revolutionize their fuel.
This one will be 100% durable, and even reusable on production cars. To do this, the density of the energy deployed, the octane level (isomer constituting the oil) and the flow of energy deployment will necessarily be less important.
Pat Symonds, who oversees the development of this new fuel for F1, is aware of this major challenge – but which can restore a central place to F1 in the energy transition. What are the details and the first planned contours of this new engine regulation in terms of fuel?
“From a competitive point of view, there are certain things that we have to do in the regulations, like putting a maximum octane level and things like that. »
“But what we don’t want to do is say how it should be done, because for me it’s competition. The advantage of motorsport is to develop these kinds of techniques and to see what the industry can do if they have a free hand. »
“So our regulations will clearly state that everything must be sustainable. We’re going to regulate certain things, like density, like maximum octane. »
“And one of the things that we do a little differently is that currently we regulate the power of the engines by regulating the flow of fuel. The current Formula 1 engine has a flow rate limit of 100 kg/h. You get that fuel into the engine, then you add as much air as you need to burn it. »
With this new fuel, Symonds even expects, at least initially, to see distinctly different performance from engine manufacturer to engine manufacturer.
“If we keep that and maybe have slightly different fuel types – because the fuel is currently very similar regardless of the manufacturer – we might find that someone got a good power advantage with the one rather than with the other. »
“So what we’re doing in 2026 is rather than regulating mass-related flow, we’re regulating energy flow. Similarly, when you receive your gas bill at the end of the month or your electricity bill, you are effectively paying for the kilowatt hours you have used. »
“Similarly, we would say ‘this is the number of kilowatt hours – megajoules, the technical term – that you can consume in a given time. »
“We should have very open competition in how you produce the fuel. »
The risk would be to see an engine manufacturer totally dominate the competition…
“But we won’t have the possibility of seeing an engine manufacturer totally dominate the competition, because he has better fuel. »
“We want to promote competition. But we also have to respect that we want to race, and we like tight races. »
A dilemma between performance and ecology?
Be that as it may, can F1, the pinnacle of motorsport, agree to restrict its performance too much for ecological reasons? Symonds assumes this choice, clearly.
“We put a limit on the energy density because we know it is relevant for production cars. »
“We could make ‘rocket fuel’. That’s not what we want to do. We want to try to advance the industry to be a real solution for future mobility, so that the energy density is similar. »
“Many synthetic fuels have a lower energy density, and therefore lower power, unless you run a lot more fuel. Ethanol, for example, alcoholic fuels – ethanol, methanol, etc. – must be burned in larger quantities to obtain the same power. »
“But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a place, because the advantage of this type of fuel is that it’s quite cheap. And in our future fuel we will have a reasonable amount of ethanol, probably up to 20%. »
In the end, Symonds assures us, the performance of the new fuel will not be inferior to what is currently found at Shell, Exxon or Petronas.
“The performance of the total fuel will be quite similar to the fuel we currently have. »