There is a shadow in the development of the 2026 power units after the idea of equipping F1 with a zero-emission fuel was not approved. With the adoption of a new regulation which is engaging the major manufacturers in a very high-impact challenge (we will have thousand horsepower engines with half endothermic power and half electric energy), we did not want to block research on one of the themes that will most characterize the future F1 single-seaters: petrol not derived from fossil fuels which will be, together with electric, one of the two legs of future mobility.
Formula 1, therefore, will become a testimonial of “clean” racing that will break down many of the prejudices that influence politics today, especially in Europe, and the consequent repercussions on the automotive world which pays almost all the blame, although it weighs only 13% of the emissions that are produced globally.
E-fuel, therefore, will have a strategic function from 2026, but some are underestimating that fuel could become a performance element that should not be overlooked due to a series of factors that have remained somewhat under the radar for the moment.
What are we referring to? Aramco, Petronas, Mobil1 and Shell are the oil companies most involved in the study of new fuels. Aramco is a sponsor and shareholder of Aston Martin, the team that will welcome Honda as its official engine manufacturer from 2026, while Petronas has an exclusive link with Mercedes, Mobil1 with Red Bull and Racing Bulls and Shell with Ferrari.
The Arabs, the first supporters of e-fuel, have invested very large sums in innovation and have been working for years on the development of a synthetic petrol that can satisfy the needs of Formula 1. Suppliers of ecological fuels can spend huge sums on research colossal, while teams are constrained by the controlled costs of the budget cap.
And there is a doubt, or rather a strong suspicion, that someone is trying to take a double advantage from this situation: first, to have a petrol that performs much better than the competition, building an advantage which, it is said, could reach values of 5%. of the power of the endothermic 6-cylinder (we’re talking about thirty horsepower); second, facilitate the development of the nascent 2026 power units with tests carried out at the benches of suppliers and not of manufacturers, where controls become not only difficult, if not impossible.
The impression, therefore, is that those who understood this line of research before others could build a performance advantage, giving a very strong imprint to the 2026 championship, perhaps triggering a “petrol war” that we have seen fought several times in the history of petrol…
We will follow all developments carefully…
#gasoline #war #break #view #rules
