The FIA published the press release following the FIA World Council held in Geneva. At power unit level there is no hint of reducing the number of engines to three, as had been suggested, taking into account that the calendar, however, will expand to 24 Grands Prix.
Many manufacturers had opposed the proposal that had been brought to the F1 Commission because going down to three units per year would have meant extending the life of the current PUs, requiring serious work on the bench which was not planned in next year’s costs, taking into account that the attention is aimed at the birth of the 2026 engines.
And also in this area, following the work carried out by the relevant commissions and working groups, the World Council approved various improvements to the sporting, technical and financial regulations of the 2026 power units with the agreement of the Manufacturers.
The most interesting aspects concern the supply of power units to the new teams, such as Andretti Racing which has already passed the first FIA screening and now has to overcome the trap of the F1 promoter who has to deal with the adversity of the majority of the teams involved in the Circus.
Photo by: Andrew Hone / Motorsport Images
F1 will adopt bio-fuel and e-fuel in 2026, but will there be a single supplier?
Another sensitive issue concerns fuel development. In the interview that Nikolas Tombazis gave us at the Italian GP, the FIA single-seater manager had assured his willingness to leave free research into zero-emission petrol, which could be e-fuel or bio fuel.
Now there would be the push to proceed with the choice of a single supplier to prevent the F1 championship from becoming a battle of the oil companies. It seems that no definitive decisions have been made, also because focusing on single petrol would lead to the exclusion of brands that invest heavily in F1. The topic, therefore, is thorny and must be seen not only from a purely technical point of view, but also from a political and financial one.
Perhaps more will be known at the next World Council which will meet in Baku, Azerbaijan on 6 December.
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