The VW Group board is expected to deliberate in these days the entry of Porsche and Audi into Formula 1 from 2026, but the two manufacturers will have to be active in advance of that date, the first by taking over Red Bull Racing and its affiliate Powertrain, while the brand with the four rings should be linked to McLaren which would renounce the current supply of the Mercedes PU.
The arrival of Porsche and Audi in F1 is conditional on the approval of the technical regulations that will define the 2026 power units with two declared objectives: to reduce costs by up to 50 percent of the current ones and to reduce emissions to push GP engines on the carbon free road with ecological fuels.
Porsche F1 livery concept
Formula 1, therefore, as a useful tool for the automotive industry to indicate an alternative path to the electric one, more complicated than the legislators themselves thought in achieving the objectives set for 2030. So many certainties that now seemed set in stone in the name of the ecological transition seem less within reach and the events of the war in Ukraine are rapidly changing important scenarios that could change the general picture of mobility.
Having made all these premises, it must be said that the German manufacturers had put a prejudice that conditioned their entry into Formula 1: abolish the MGU-H, that is to say the electric motor generator that collects the energy of the turbo and transforms it into electricity to be stowed. into the battery.
Mercedes-AMG Project ONE showcar at launch in 2017
Photo by: Daimler AG
Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda have spent mind-boggling amounts to develop this recharging concept which, however, was not reflected in the production cars except on the Mercedes One, the Star Hypercar presented at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show and produced in edition. limited of 275 models, but which has never been seen on the street because deliveries have not yet started five years later.
Porsche and Audi, therefore, have imposed the elimination of the MGU-H in the 2026 power unit, aware that the new units would have had enormously lower research costs, being able to enter F1 with a different technical concept that did not benefit the Manufacturers who already there are.
Stefano Domenicali, CEO, Formula 1, Ross Brawn, CEO of Motorsport, FOM
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Obviously Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of F1, has pleaded this cause, because the entry of two such prestigious engineers could be the flagship of his management. So far so good, but the resolution of the 2026 power unit regulation by the FIA World Council is late.
Because? The reason is quite simple: the Germans have called for a drastic drop in consumption. There is talk of dropping to 70-75 kg of fuel against the 110 kg of gasoline that are now stored in the tanks.
The objective is certainly very challenging and would push research towards endothermic engines with extraordinary efficiency (on the bench the current PUs have exceeded 50%) which would literally bring down consumption, but the unsolved question is how to get to have a power unit of nearly 1,000 horsepower with 35 kg of fuel in full and without the MGU-H.
Red Bull Racing RB18, technical detail of the RBPTH001 power unit
Photo by: Uncredited
The question is breaking the table at which the CEOs of the manufacturers concerned sat: if you reduce the impact of the internal combustion engine, badly counted 350 kW are missing: a real enormity! Also because it is not yet understood how this gap will have to be closed. It should come as no surprise, then, that there has been a halt on research. A decision will have to be made by June, but the feeling is that we still want to buy time.
One solution could be to increase the range of the batteries: it is certainly feasible, but the main contraindication is the weight that the current F1 cars already fight as they are unable to reach the limit of 798 kg granted by the FIA. If we do not want to see “buses” running, we will have to look for other systems to find the power.
And what if in the end the time savings actually benefited the new builders? Are there those who fear that they could churn out some ideas that go in the wake of the technologies they have already experimented in other categories, gaining a competitive advantage, as Mercedes had scientifically done before the launch of the hybrid era in 2014?
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