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formula 1 chiefs will discuss with teams
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later this week the idea of a
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significant change to the 2026 engine
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rules aimed at heading off fears about
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cars repeatedly running out of energy on
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the straits ahead of the all new turbo
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hybrid regulations that are coming for
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next year a radical proposal has been
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added to the agenda for the next F1
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commission meeting that takes place in
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Geneva on Thursday the idea to be
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debated by teams and senior figures from
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FOM and the FIA is for F1 to move away
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in part from a much heralded aspect of
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the new rules that are on the horizon
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this was for a 50-50 power ratio split
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between the internal combustion engine
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and battery elements of the new power
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units where 350 kW comes from both
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elements while the originally intended
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50/50 split will remain for qualifying
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the suggestion being looked at is to
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step back from letting teams run the
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full 350 kW from the batteries in the
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races themselves if the plan goes ahead
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the maximum allowed would be just 200 kW
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which will shift the power ratio from
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50/50 IC battery to 6436 the hope is
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that by reducing the maximum power that
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can be deployed it will allow the
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battery to be used for an extended
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period around the lap therefore
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minimizing the chances of drivers being
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left with no extra energy at all but why
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has F1 ended up in such a scenario just
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9 months out from the 2026 cars hitting
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the track for the first
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time when F1 elected to rip up the rule
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book for 26 and do something different
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it was heavily motivated by the desire
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to get more manufacturers involved in F1
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the main target was obviously the
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Volkswagen group with both his Audi and
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Porsche brands potentially ready to join
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Grand Prix racing if the rules were
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attractive enough there were three key
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elements that were viewed as critical to
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get them in the first was the move to
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fully sustainable fuels which is seen as
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a critical step in F1's transition to
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become net carbon neutral the second was
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getting rid of the energy harvesting
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that we currently have from the MGH
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which converted excess heat from the
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engine into battery power this device
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was deemed to be too complicated too
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expensive and not road relevant enough
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the third element required was an
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increase in electrification with F1
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eventually deciding to make a major step
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from the 120 kW that is available now
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from battery power all the way up to 350
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kW this means that batteries will
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contribute as much as the internal
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combustion engine itself to the overall
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power figure which is what has triggered
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the 50/50 concept even though Porsche's
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plans to enter F1 fell by the wayside
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after it could not agree a deal with Red
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Bull the planned 26 rules did their job
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in attracting Audi in and they also
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convinced Honda to rethink its planned
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exit however the rules were widely
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viewed as being a bit of a compromise
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because as manufacturers began working
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on the all new power units they quickly
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realized that things would not be
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perfect with the way things have been
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shaped a combination of losing the MGH
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to harvest energy as well as an
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increased allowance in deploying battery
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power meant the engines were going to
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end up being energy starved in simple
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terms this means there's not enough
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power harvested to allow as much
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deployment around a lap as teams would
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like while that may not be a huge
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headache at venues without long
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straights for some power sensitive
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tracks like Monza there have been
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worries that cars could run out of
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energy halfway down the straight
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triggering a poor spectacle and huge
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frustrations for drivers max Vstappen
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famously revealed that from an early
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simulator run he had done he ended up
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having to change down gear on the Monza
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straight after the car had run out of
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battery power entirely some of the early
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fears were however triggered by teams
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running in simulators of cars that had a
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lot more drag than the designs we'll get
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next year active arrows become a core
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part of the cars for 26 where wings will
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go into low drag mode down the straights
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to help minimize the energy that's
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required to propel them at speed
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furthermore two additional demands have
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been put in the regulations to ensure
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that drivers are not suddenly left with
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zero power halfway down the straits the
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first relates to car speed and demands
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that once the cars are up to a certain
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velocity then the limit of electrical
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energy that can be used starts dropping
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away from the peak 350 kW allowed in the
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26 power units as can be seen here this
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starts reducing as cars approach 300 km
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an hour then tapers off more
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aggressively than 340 km an hour before
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it hits zero at about 345 km an hour
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perhaps of more importance though is an
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article in the technical regulations
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that limits the rate at which power can
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be reduced so there's no cliff edge
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potential this is known as the turndown
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ramp rate and effectively prevents teams
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from burning all the power quickly to
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arrive at a point where drivers
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instantly go from having maximum power
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to none at all there are two ramp rates
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laid down one for tracks where power
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will be very limited and then a
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different metric for everywhere else at
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those tracks where the FIA determines
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that the power limited distance exceeds
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3,500 m then the power can be reduced at
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no greater rate than 50 kW in any 1
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second period for any other venue the
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rate of reduction is capped at 100 kW in
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any 1 second period at Monza which will
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fall into the power limited track
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category it will take 7 seconds for the
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battery to go from 350 kW to zero if we
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do some calculations the start finish
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straight there is approximately 15
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seconds long so if there was in theory
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enough energy to run for half that
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straight at max power say 7.5 seconds
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without any restrictions then things are
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different with a ramp down limit it will
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mean teams can run around 4 seconds at
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350 kW followed by 7 seconds of ramp
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down this means 11 seconds of energy in
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total which is now 3/4 of the straight
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it's a scenario very different from
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those earlier fears combined together
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these extra rules force teams to focus
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on efficiency of the battery power
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rather than efficiency of lap time and
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it will prevent them from doing what
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they would have done without any
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restrictions which is deploying the full
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350 kW at the start of the straight
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until the batteries are
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empty while some manufacturers are
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confident that all the above measures
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should be enough to make the situation
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acceptable not everyone is convinced and
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as the rules edge closer there's been
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some lobbying to try to help improve
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things and stop F1 turning into an
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economy run the FIA has taken on board
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these concerns because it's determined
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to ensure that 26 does not become a
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letdown with the key challenge for the
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new turbo hybrid regulations being the
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electrical element that revolves around
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the battery one of its conclusions is
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that the best way to better manage
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things is to limit the amount of energy
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that can be deployed so rather than
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permit the maximum 350 kW that's allowed
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in the regulations one idea that's being
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tabled is to cut it back in races where
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things will be more challenging while
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the full power will still be available
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for qualifying the proposal is that
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battery power deployment be reduced from
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the current 350 kW down to 200 kW for
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the sprints and Grand Prisms themselves
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this will shift the power ratio from
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50/50 to
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6436 drivers will also be allowed to use
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a full 350 kW for what's known as the
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override system which is an extra boost
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of energy that can be used at selected
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points to help with overtaking the idea
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behind the shift to 200 kW in the races
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is that with less power being deployed
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what energy the battery has stored can
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be unleashed over a much greater
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distance of the lap and especially for a
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longer time down the straights while the
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reduction in power which is equivalent
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to 200 horsepower will have an impact in
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holding back acceleration immediately
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out of a corner sources have indicated
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the performance profile around a lap
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will be more consistent as cars are
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running less of the lap without any
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battery power at all one of the other
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added benefits of the change is that
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with the override overtake element
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remaining at 350 kW then it should
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further open up overtaking opportunities
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as there will be a bigger offset between
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cars that have it and those that do
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not the idea of pulling the battery
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power back to 200 kW of races is not
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without controversy with opinions in the
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paddock very much divided red Bull's
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Christian her whose team is working on
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its own power unit for the first time
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next year thinks it will help avoid the
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worst of drivers being on economy runs
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he's spoken many times about worries of
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drivers needing to change down gears on
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the straights because they've run out of
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power too early but not everyone's in
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favor and one of the most vocal against
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is Mercedes boss Toto Wolf whose team
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has invested heavily in the new power
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units and is rumored to have nailed the
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new regulations so could be the one to
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beat if things stay the same in some
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comments that grabbed attention after
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the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix regarding
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the rule change having been put on the
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agenda of the F1 Commission meeting he
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said it was almost as hilarious as
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reading some of the comments that I see
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on Twitter on American politics i really
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want to protect ourselves and make no
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comment but it's a joke for the change
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to go through for 26 it will require
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support from the majority of
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manufacturers something that may well
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fall short of being achieved unless
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there are some other compromises thrown
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onto the table what is certain is that
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there's going to be some heated debate
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about it and with plenty of months to go
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before 26 engines hit the track for the
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first time there's going to be some
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major efforts made to try to get the
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compromised regulations into the best
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shape possible and the true hope is F1
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does not deliver a damp squip next year
