Formula 1 News: Engine Manufacturers fail to reach agreement to fix their Frankenstein engines

(GMM) Formula 1 chiefs failed to reach agreement on more fundamental engine changes during recent crisis talks, settling instead for what insiders describe as a compromise.

Reporting in Auto Motor und Sport, Tobias Gruner said the discussions around the controversial 2026 rules were “constructive, but in the end, as usual, they agreed on the lowest common denominator”.

The debate centered on growing calls to shift the power balance back towards combustion engines to reduce extreme energy management and improve racing.

FIA technical boss Nikolas Tombazis admits the current situation is problematic.

“It’s true that you run into problems with energy management when the ratio is below a certain threshold. We knew that from day one. We’ve worked to mitigate many of these compromises,” he said.

“The cars are a bit faster and the teams have found a bit more downforce than we thought. Therefore, slightly less energy is being recovered during braking phases than we would like.”

Increasing fuel flow – and therefore engine power – was discussed as a potential fix, but no consensus was reached.

“During the discussions, the option of reducing the electric component and allowing more gasoline flow was on the table,” said another FIA official, Jan Monchaux.

“However, this would have required a so-called super-majority. That means most manufacturers would have had to agree. But they didn’t. And we can’t make that decision over their heads.”

He made it clear why agreement proved impossible.

“One thinks ‘this gives me an advantage’. Another thinks ‘I’m winning races right now, so I don’t want to change anything’. And the third says ‘I need 16 months to develop a new engine and 2027 isn’t realistic’.”

With no deal, any major change is now likely delayed until at least 2028.

Editor’s Note: It appears Formula 1 and the FIA are stuck between a rock and a hard place because they wrote regulations to appease the environmental tree huggers instead of the drivers, teams and fans. They were hell bent on advertising “we are 50% electric, look how green we are” while flying the entire series all around the world polluting the shit out of the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, former F1 driver Patrick Friesacher believes the situation could have been avoided entirely if drivers had been listened to earlier.

“I believe Max brought up this kind of thing a year and a half ago and Carlos Sainz too,” he said on Servus TV.

“They should have generally listened to the drivers a bit more. They are in the car. This way, such things can be prevented – or simply will not happen again in the future.”