F1 / Motori 2026: new combustion and novelties in the outline | FormulaPassion.it

The World Motorsport Council will meet on Tuesday 16 August to vote on the approval of the 2026 power unit regulations. The long engine development times require you to play well in advance to provide the necessary time for the engineers, especially the new entrants Porsche and Audi. . The basic characteristics of the new generation of engines have been known for some time: maintenance of the 1.6-liter V6however, fed with a new generation of fuels obtained with a blend of bio-components and synthetic gasolines; abolition of MGU-Hthe electric motor generator coupled to the turbocharger; increase in electric cavalry. In detail, the electric power will rise from 120 to 350 kW, thus passing from 16 to about 50% of the total power. All this will significantly increase the relevance of electrical efficiency, a research in which manufacturers will make great efforts to obtain a competitive advantage.

A substantial part of the game will obviously be played on the heat engine. Preserving the current 1600cc six-cylinder setting plays in favor of the engine engineers already present in the Circus, namely Alpine, Mercedes and Ferrari. Having an existing mechanical base is a considerable advantage for those who remain, especially from a structural point of view, thus being able to start from an existing unit and avoid having to design a new one starting from a blank sheet. All this will allow you to dedicate less human, economic and time resources to it, investing them more in other aspects that will change profoundly and will be at the center of the engineering competition. While on the one hand the mechanical structure of the engine will remain almost intact, the same cannot be said of the internal fluid dynamics and the combustion process, which will be at the center of research between now and 2026.

First, the fuels will change, which will be in part consisting of an alcohol-based bio-componentsuch as ethanol already used for several years, and a substantial synthetic fraction designed in the laboratory. The greater freedom left to fuel suppliers than in the recent past will attribute great weight in the engineering competition to partner companies of individual teams such as Shell, Petronas and Esso. Not only the energy of the developed gasolines will be important, or rather their energy density, but there will be a multitude of aspects that can potentially influence the competitiveness of the engine. Resistance to detonation, for example, if left free, determines the usable compression ratio, a parameter that strongly influences the combustion efficiency; volatility is closely related to internal fluid dynamics, mixing with air and preparing the charge in the cylinders; the heat dispersion is associated with the heat released to the cylinder walls and therefore to the cooling system, with repercussions on the dimensions of the radiators and on the design freedom for the aerodynamicists. Obviously, moreover, with fuels of different conception, the entire combustion process will have to be profoundly revised and optimized, which, however, will have to take other factors into account.

The abolition of the MGU-H forces in fact a revision of the energy management strategies of the power unit, as the electric motor generator coupled to the turbocharger regenerated energy by exploiting the work exerted on the turbine by the exhaust gases. It was therefore the practice of engine engineers to partially sacrifice combustion efficiency, in order to maintain a higher residual energy level of the flue gases for greater regeneration from the MGU-H and ultimately a more abundant energy availability with which to power the hybrid system. This practice will fail on 2026 engines, where similar sacrifices from the power extracted in the cylinders will no longer be necessary. The MGU-H, however, also helped to accelerate the compressor, limiting turbo-lag and increasing the availability of torque at low revs. Its absence in 2026 will ensure that there will be a different curve of the torque and power delivered at the different engine speedsfurther forcing to review the fluid dynamics inside the cylinders and the combustion in the different operating conditions.

However, the changes to the power units do not only affect the engine department, but extend to other areas of performance and to partner companies. Just think, for example, of how Brembo you need to know the braking power of the electric motor to correctly size the rear brake discs. Then there is the issue related to clutches, treated together with FormulaPassion.it by Jon Grant, Chief Engineer of AP Racing: “The design tends to be influenced by regulations, so the main changes in clutch design happen when there are profound regulatory changes. The introduction of the V6 engines in 2014 for example led to the clutches being downsized and widened, because the rotational speed was lowered, but the torque transferred became greater. […] However, the 2026 regulations have not yet been published, so it is difficult for us to predict exactly what changes will be needed. It will depend on where the electric torque will be transmitted, whether upstream or downstream of the clutch, because it will determine whether we at AP Racing will have to manage this excess electric power or not. However, it is likely that it will lead to changes in the requirements of the clutches, because if they have to transfer less torque, then obviously we will try to make them smaller and lighter, to minimize mass and rotational inertia. Conversely, otherwise the proportions will have to change to allow for a greater torque to be transferred ”. It is also impossible to neglect the pneumatic aspect, subject to a greater torque deriving from the increase in the electrical component, as confirmed by Mario Isola: “This is a bit like what we saw in 2014, when we switched from just the thermal engine to the hybrid. We will have more torque and we will have to design suitable constructions ”.

That of 2026 takes on the features of a substantial revolution, for which the lesson of 2014 serves as a warning on the importance of anticipating. However, we must not neglect to work in an economically efficient way, given the arrival of a dedicated budget cap for engine development. Then there is the issue linked to the frames and aerodynamics, considering that the increase in the electrical component will require a reduction in consumption, acting on weight and aerodynamic resistance. The absence of statements and information about it initially led to think that the discussions on the power units had been carried out independently of the aerodynamic studies. However, one learns how in reality there is already a starting point and feasibility analyzes have been carried out to verify the feasibility of the ambitions of the new engines. The biggest question is how it is possible to maintain performance in line with current ones while reducing size and drag, a parameter closely associated with downforce. It cannot be ruled out that aerodynamics and / or active suspensions, already called into question in recent months, may actually be implemented. Mouths sewn at the moment by both FIA and Formula 1, which suggests that important news are in the pipeline.