2026 Hybrid Powerunits

[diffuser]

I realize this is like talking to a brick wall but it whatever... Electric is far, far inferior when it comes to energy density which makes it too heavy for track use over any sort of reasonable distance. I'm sure you can up with some sort of "Chinese super duper EV" science fiction to make it seem like you can swap batteries or use fusion generators or some such thing but the reality is nobody is rushing to track EVs because they make terrible track cars. Going fast in a straight line might work over a couple of laps but then you need to recharge it and the truck like weights mean the power to weight is far less impressive.

As for noise - thats subjective but the 26 viewership numbers and clear fan backlash have been enough for F1 to publicly come out and announce a pivot back to ICE skewed engines as soon as possible. Both the people who watch FE aren't enough to move the needle. You need car enthusiasts and the utter failure of EV sports cars shows how important noise is to them.

You mean the storage. And yes weight can be solved to be brought down to a good power to weight ratio.
And yes, battery swapping is a potential direction. Even if you dismissed it without any argument or basis whatsoever.

26 noise isn't any worse than 2014-2025. It's slightly more even. And that fan backlash is in your head. For 12 years we had this sound. F1 only became more popular and successful...

Can be solved with hypothetical technology that isn’t real yet. We’ve already been over this but the Gen 4 FE car actually has lower energy density batteries than Gen 3.

Luckily F1 seems to have understood this now and they are moving towards a sensible “entertainment first” formula instead of trying to placate the zealots.

Ok cause plying to people who equate more noise with more power is the way to go. That's entertainment. Dumbing down the sport for the masses.

[Cold Fussion]

Can be solved with hypothetical technology that isn’t real yet. We’ve already been over this but the Gen 4 FE car actually has lower energy density batteries than Gen 3.

Is this actually confirmed or just speculation? As far as I know we don't know the pack weight for the gen4 cars yet. Even if it is a bit heavier, the higher power density makes for a far more interesting car, and IMO it's the direction road cars should have taken vs having longer range and slow charging.

[Badger]

You mean the storage. And yes weight can be solved to be brought down to a good power to weight ratio.
And yes, battery swapping is a potential direction. Even if you dismissed it without any argument or basis whatsoever.

26 noise isn't any worse than 2014-2025. It's slightly more even. And that fan backlash is in your head. For 12 years we had this sound. F1 only became more popular and successful...

Can be solved with hypothetical technology that isn’t real yet. We’ve already been over this but the Gen 4 FE car actually has lower energy density batteries than Gen 3.

Luckily F1 seems to have understood this now and they are moving towards a sensible “entertainment first” formula instead of trying to placate the zealots.

Ok cause plying to people who equate more noise with more power is the way to go. That's entertainment. Dumbing down the sport for the masses.

Entertainment is being able to push a car in the corners, it's being able to brake at 6G from 300 kph. What we have now is a watered down product. As for the noise I don't care too much if it's a V6 or a V8, just as long as it makes some kind of noise. Having no noise (like FE) is kind of like watching a movie on mute.

[Badger]

F1 agrees plan to ditch '50/50' engine power split for 2027
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-a ... 27-engine/

In a statement issued by the FIA after the meeting, it said that the aim was to increase the power of the internal combustion element by 50kW through a fuel-flow increase, with the electrical element being pulled back from 350kW to 300kW.

Hallelujah!

I said it the moment I laid eyes on these regulations 4 years ago, that power split makes zero sense. Special shoutout to Verstappen for ramping up the pressure.

[Vappy]

F1 agrees plan to ditch '50/50' engine power split for 2027
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-a ... 27-engine/

In a statement issued by the FIA after the meeting, it said that the aim was to increase the power of the internal combustion element by 50kW through a fuel-flow increase, with the electrical element being pulled back from 350kW to 300kW.

Hallelujah!

I said it the moment I laid eyes on these regulations 4 years ago, that power split makes zero sense. Special shoutout to Verstappen for ramping up the pressure.

Anyone willing to run some numbers with the above changes compared to the current? i.e. how much of a difference in super clipping, etc. 50KW is a rather small amount?

[Badger]

Can be solved with hypothetical technology that isn’t real yet. We’ve already been over this but the Gen 4 FE car actually has lower energy density batteries than Gen 3.

Is this actually confirmed or just speculation? As far as I know we don't know the pack weight for the gen4 cars yet. Even if it is a bit heavier, the higher power density makes for a far more interesting car, and IMO it's the direction road cars should have taken vs having longer range and slow charging.

New battery weight is 340 kg with a 55 kW capacity (51 kW usable in race).

[Badger]

F1 agrees plan to ditch '50/50' engine power split for 2027
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-a ... 27-engine/

In a statement issued by the FIA after the meeting, it said that the aim was to increase the power of the internal combustion element by 50kW through a fuel-flow increase, with the electrical element being pulled back from 350kW to 300kW.

Hallelujah!

I said it the moment I laid eyes on these regulations 4 years ago, that power split makes zero sense. Special shoutout to Verstappen for ramping up the pressure.

Anyone willing to run some numbers with the above changes compared to the current? i.e. how much of a difference in super clipping, etc. 50KW is a rather small amount?

Hard to say exactly because it will depend on how much less energy they need to harvest per lap. We started 2026 doing 8-9 MJ per lap, now we're down to 7-8 MJ because they lowered it to reduce harvesting. If you add 12,5% more ICE power and reduce the MGU-K by 15% (350 --> 300 kW) you will cut the need for harvesting even more. We may go from a 550 HP engine that needs to harvest 7,5 MJ per lap to a 620 HP engine that needs to harvest 5,5 MJ per lap, that's a massive difference in terms of how much harvesting will be required and how noticeable it will be when harvesting.