The meeting of the World Motorsport Council led to the definitive approval of the regulations for the 2026 power units, with relative official publication on the Federation portal. Many innovations, starting from the already anticipated architecture of the engines, which see the repeal of the MGU-H, the second electric motor currently connected to the turbocharger. Instead, the MGU-K remains, whose electrical power has been tripled and increased to 476 hp, equal to 50% of the total power. The performance of the power units will in fact remain in the order of the current ones, with the total cavalry expected around 1000 hp.
The heart of the power unit will be the heat engine, which will continue to be in 2026 as well a 1600cc turbocharged V-six, with an angle of 90 ° between the two banks. The combustion engine will be powered by a new generation of fuels, obtained from a blend of bio-components and synthetic gasolines. More freedom will be provided on the composition of the fuel than in the past, with the FIA leaving therefore wider research margins for gasoline suppliers, aiming to limit the performance gaps with a different approach to controlling the power unit. In fact, the current generation of engines is subject to the limit to the fuel flow rate, i.e. the instantaneous mass that can be used for each time interval, set at 100 kg / h over the rotation speed of 10500 rpm. From 2026, on the other hand, by predicting the coexistence of fuels with different energy densities, it will not be the mass flow rate that will be regulated, but the flow of energy contained in the petrol fed into the engine. The limit will increase proportionally as the engine speed increases, up to the threshold of 3000 MJ / h above 10500 rpm.
As for the hybrid part, the MGU-K will be coupled to the drive shaft through a fixed ratio. From 2026 the cars will be able to regenerate up to 9 MJ of braking energy, against the 2 MJ of the current generation of power units to which, however, the unlimited recharge operated by the MGU-H is added, which however will fail. On the other hand, on the next engines there will be no cap on the energy that can be supplied at each turn by the electric motor, contrary to the 4 MJ granted for the MGU-K on the engines still in use. The only limit will be the physical limit of the battery, which will maintain a capacity of 4 MJ, energy which, however, will be added to the 9 MJ that can be regenerated under braking at each lap. As for the electric power useful for the motion, this will go up from the current 120 kW to 350 kWequivalent to approximately 476 hp. However, the 350 kW will only be usable at speeds below 300 km / h. At longer distances, the maximum electric power will be subject to a decrease of 5 kW for each km / h in excess, up to the stable value of 150 kW from 340 km / h and up. Finally, the MGU-K will be able to deliver a maximum torque of 500 Nm.
Among other limitations, it continues to be present a ban on the use of variable geometry solutions for turbocharger impellersas already in force for the 2014-2025 power units, but the ban on variable extension intake horns. Also noteworthy is the subdivision of the engine components into Listed Componentsthe design of which will be the responsibility of the team, Open Sourceie whose designs will be available to competitors, e Standard. However, almost all of the parts fall into the first category, with the injectors standing out among the standard components, while the pop-off and wastegate valves of the turbo are among the open sources. Finally, it is interesting to note that the prescription for the resistance to detonation of the fuel goes from the minimum of 87 octane currently in place to maximum of 95 octane in 2026. A value that, placing itself in line with commercial fuels, underlines the will of Formula 1 to use drop-in petrol, that is, usable directly on production engines without requiring further modifications.
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