2026 F1 Cars - General Thread

[mzso]

You can't interpret what others say. Or refuse to.
F1 gets the views and the monea because it's F1, which FE isn't.
Sim racing doesn't matter because it's not car racing and definitely not F1.
So you're afraid of new manufacturers beating the old dinosaurs? Then you don't care for racing at all...
Just watching old brands making a lot of noise pollution.

There are scientific reasons and commercial facts and figures why F1 is not ready for full electric and I hope you can take some time to digest that information first before trying to put cart before horses.

Ultimate F1 is about technology and science, not based on some fancy ideas and trying to reinvent the wheel of motorsports entertainment.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59556016

https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/37 ... le-science

https://frontofficesports.com/formula-1 ... Domenicali.

There are no "scientific", or commercial reasons. And you won't accomplish much linking official propaganda on a technical forum.

There's only the backward thinking, tradition, fear, and investments.

[CHT]

You can't interpret what others say. Or refuse to.
F1 gets the views and the monea because it's F1, which FE isn't.
Sim racing doesn't matter because it's not car racing and definitely not F1.
So you're afraid of new manufacturers beating the old dinosaurs? Then you don't care for racing at all...
Just watching old brands making a lot of noise pollution.

There are scientific reasons and commercial facts and figures why F1 is not ready for full electric and I hope you can take some time to digest that information first before trying to put cart before horses.

Ultimate F1 is about technology and science, not based on some fancy ideas and trying to reinvent the wheel of motorsports entertainment.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59556016

https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/37 ... le-science

https://frontofficesports.com/formula-1 ... Domenicali.

There are no "scientific", or commercial reasons. And you won't accomplish much linking official propaganda on a technical forum.

There's only the backward thinking, tradition, fear, and investments.

Companies such as Audi BMW and recently Merc have all quit Formula E in recent years.
I don't suppose these companies are backward-thinking or anything of that sort. Toto has also given the reason why Merc decided to leave Formula E despite championship success.

https://www.sportskeeda.com/f1/news-mer ... g%20season.

The fact that Formula E is considering doing a "30 sec" power pit stop is a scientific reason why Formula 1 is not ready to go full electric, and no one should try to go against the natural law of physics to say that it is ok for formula 1 to switch from competing for tenths and hundredth of sec or <3 sec pitstop to doing >30 sec "refueling" in order to spice up the race.

The are many videos of Tesla Cybertruck doing drag racing with supercars circulating online, and this is exactly the reason why full electric is not suitable for F1.

[Zynerji]

There are scientific reasons and commercial facts and figures why F1 is not ready for full electric and I hope you can take some time to digest that information first before trying to put cart before horses.

Ultimate F1 is about technology and science, not based on some fancy ideas and trying to reinvent the wheel of motorsports entertainment.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59556016

https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/37 ... le-science

https://frontofficesports.com/formula-1 ... Domenicali.

There are no "scientific", or commercial reasons. And you won't accomplish much linking official propaganda on a technical forum.

There's only the backward thinking, tradition, fear, and investments.

Companies such as Audi BMW and recently Merc have all quit Formula E in recent years.
I don't suppose these companies are backward-thinking or anything of that sort. Toto has also given the reason why Merc decided to leave Formula E despite championship success.

https://www.sportskeeda.com/f1/news-mer ... g%20season.

The fact that Formula E is considering doing a "30 sec" power pit stop is a scientific reason why Formula 1 is not ready to go full electric, and no one should try to go against the natural law of physics to say that it is ok for formula 1 to switch from competing for tenths and hundredth of sec or <3 sec pitstop to doing >30 sec "refueling" in order to spice up the race.

The are many videos of Tesla Cybertruck doing drag racing with supercars circulating online, and this is exactly the reason why full electric is not suitable for F1.

Jet driven MGUK powering electric drivetrain is better anyways.... Make it silly, and make them incorporate it with a 7 spd manual gearbox...

[wuzak]

Sure, but that would mean 5 minute pit stops. Unless they're going back to car swaps, which defeats the purpose of the whole thing.

600kW charge for about 30s is the plan.

So that's around 5KWh? Is that good for much?

Gen 3 battery capacity is 47kWh.

There is some weight saving from reducing the battery capacity.

Of interest to the 2026 F1 car discussion, Formula E has 250kW MGU on front axle and 350kW MGU on rear axle. Maximum recovery is 600kW and maximum deployment is 350kW.

IMO F1 would need the same proportion of deployment/regeneration power to make the 2026 ERS rules make sense, and for there to be no need for fuel burring to generate electrical power.

[mzso]

600kW charge for about 30s is the plan.

So that's around 5KWh? Is that good for much?

600 kW for 30 sec is 804 bhp for 30 sec
with recovery that's enough for 1 lap

Okay. But FE has the fraction of that power.

Gen 3 battery capacity is 47kWh.

There is some weight saving from reducing the battery capacity.

Of interest to the 2026 F1 car discussion, Formula E has 250kW MGU on front axle and 350kW MGU on rear axle. Maximum recovery is 600kW and maximum deployment is 350kW.

IMO F1 would need the same proportion of deployment/regeneration power to make the 2026 ERS rules make sense, and for there to be no need for fuel burring to generate electrical power.

That still seems rather little. So what, five pit stops then? I'd expect they want at least twice the energy than the battery capacity. Two 5kWh pit stops is barely a top-up.

[mzso]

There are scientific reasons and commercial facts and figures why F1 is not ready for full electric and I hope you can take some time to digest that information first before trying to put cart before horses.

Ultimate F1 is about technology and science, not based on some fancy ideas and trying to reinvent the wheel of motorsports entertainment.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59556016

https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/37 ... le-science

https://frontofficesports.com/formula-1 ... Domenicali.

There are no "scientific", or commercial reasons. And you won't accomplish much linking official propaganda on a technical forum.

There's only the backward thinking, tradition, fear, and investments.

Companies such as Audi BMW and recently Merc have all quit Formula E in recent years.
I don't suppose these companies are backward-thinking or anything of that sort. Toto has also given the reason why Merc decided to leave Formula E despite championship success.

https://www.sportskeeda.com/f1/news-mer ... g%20season.

The fact that Formula E is considering doing a "30 sec" power pit stop is a scientific reason why Formula 1 is not ready to go full electric, and no one should try to go against the natural law of physics to say that it is ok for formula 1 to switch from competing for tenths and hundredth of sec or <3 sec pitstop to doing >30 sec "refueling" in order to spice up the race.

The are many videos of Tesla Cybertruck doing drag racing with supercars circulating online, and this is exactly the reason why full electric is not suitable for F1.

That's neither scientific, nor a reason for anything.

Mind you, F1 had refueling for decades... And it wasn't forced by regulation but "scientific" facts. Which is, that they were faster in total with pit stops and carrying around less weight.

I can see F1 working with battery swaps. Even more so with fuel cells. There's no "scientific" reason they couldn't work. It only needs invested time and money.

[wuzak]

That still seems rather little. So what, five pit stops then? I'd expect they want at least twice the energy than the battery capacity. Two 5kWh pit stops is barely a top-up.

It's around 10% of their battery capacity.

Which saves about 10% of the battery weight compared to no recharging.

[CHT]

I just read that F1 FIA and Extreme H has set up a working group to explore Hydrogen energy for future of motorsports

I reckon this is likely the future for F1

[jjn9128]

I just read that F1 FIA and Extreme H has set up a working group to explore Hydrogen energy for future of motorsports

I reckon this is likely the future for F1

Extreme H is preparation H on steroids?

[CHT]

I just read that F1 FIA and Extreme H has set up a working group to explore Hydrogen energy for future of motorsports

I reckon this is likely the future for F1

Extreme H is preparation H on steroids?

I reckon sport car manufacturers are more inclined towards hydrogen combustion engines instead of EV.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/other/f ... r-AA1l9iSc

[mzso]

I just read that F1 FIA and Extreme H has set up a working group to explore Hydrogen energy for future of motorsports

I reckon this is likely the future for F1

I reckon sport car manufacturers are more inclined towards hydrogen combustion engines instead of EV.

Source?

PS: Hydrogen is best used with a fuel cell.Wasting half of it in an ICE is insane, but this is the FIA, so who knows.

[Tommy Cookers]

... Hydrogen is best used with a fuel cell.Wasting half of it in an ICE is insane ,,,,

this is not road car use
fuel cells would waste about the same % as a lean hydrogen ICE in race use

fuel cells produce quite a lot of heat - this maybe usable (if 'compounded' with some heat 'engine' or expansion stage)

[mzso]

... Hydrogen is best used with a fuel cell.Wasting half of it in an ICE is insane ,,,,

this is not road car use
fuel cells would waste about the same % as a lean hydrogen ICE in race use

fuel cells produce quite a lot of heat - this maybe usable by some heat 'engine' or expansion stage

Fuel cells are quite a lot more efficient. Around twice as much. And as you said some energy recovery is possible, increasing the efficiency further.

[Tommy Cookers]

Fuel cells are quite a lot more efficient. Around twice as much. And as you said some energy recovery is possible, increasing the efficiency further.

let's try this one more time .....
hydrogen fueling of traditional ICE engines gives poor efficiency because these ICEs have poor efficiency at low% power
so yes hydrogen fuel cells are 'twice as efficient' for road use

but in hydrogen-fueled F1 its 'heat dilution'-type ICE would be 50% efficient (or 55% efficient with MGU-H)
(hydrogen could even be run adiabatically - ie so lean that no heat dump via coolant is needed)

[CHT]

The problem with hydrogen may been in the fuel tank capacity. If F1 adopts this technology it will require refueling, which may be tricky. But then again, this is something the automotive giants will need to figure out to remain relevant.