Adrian Newey, Chief Technology Officer of Red Bull F1, has witnessed how Extreme E works and believes F1 needs to consider multiple solutions for future fuels.
Adrian Newey is also one of the managers of Veloce Racing, who finished the first season of 2021 Extreme E in 7th place.
The Extreme E machine is an all-electric SUV that runs on a hydrogen-charged battery and delivers up to 540bhp when racing off-road.
Adrian Newey, who witnessed Extreme E, believes the idea of expanding hydrogen power is beneficial, but says he needs to keep his eyes open when it comes to future power.
“It would be very interesting if Extreme E also allowed hydrogen to be fueled in addition to the battery,” Adrian Newey told Racing News 365.
“Of course, we need to make sure that one technology is clearly not faster than the other, so we need to balance it.”
“In any case, it will be a great way to promote hydrogen as an alternative to batteries.”
F1’s power unit will use E10 fuel with environmentally friendly elements in 2022. F1 is gradually moving away from fossil fuels, and E10 fuel contains 10% ethanol.
However, Adrian Newey feels that there is no “silver bullet” solution for how F1 engines will be shaped in the next few years.
“You shouldn’t commit to one thing,” Adrian Newey said.
“Electricity will obviously be used for specific purposes in the future, but hydrogen will be used as well as synthetic fuels.”
“That’s important. People aren’t looking at climate problems and think there’s only one solution. That’s probably not the case.”
Extreme E is run by a team of one male and one female driver, with five rounds in the first year. Rosberg X Racing, owned by Nico Rosberg, won the title in a fierce battle with Lewis Hamilton’s X44.
Adrian Newey, who attended the season finale at Dawset, said he enjoyed seeing Extreme E cars in person as he focused on fighting Mercedes in F1 throughout the season.
“It’s interesting to look around here. I’m involved from a distance and watching what’s happening,” Adrian Newey explained.
“It’s nice to be able to finally witness it yourself and see how everything works. The machine is impressive and bigger than I had imagined when I saw it on TV.”
“The first season was good and all the teams and organizations did their best.”
Category: Category: F1 / Red bull / Honda F1