F1 Engine Rules 'Wrong': Sainz Calls Overhaul After Malaysia Glitch — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Williams driver Carlos Sainz, a Grand Prix Drivers' Association director, said F1 'needs to have a hard look at itself' and called engine regulations decided five years ago 'wrong,' asking 'Who decided five years ago that this was the direction to go?'
- A software bug in the wet-weather engine map caused several cars to struggle on formation laps at Sunday's race, forcing an abandoned start, a new software code, and a race delayed by an hour and a half.
- The FIA has launched a 'full review,' while Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies called the incident a 'good reminder' to keep system complexity 'under control.'
- The new regulations produce a 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power, yielding 1,000bhp at full power but only 540bhp when batteries deplete — a dynamic two-time champion Fernando Alonso described as turning fast corners into 'charging stations for the car.'
- The specific wet-weather trigger cut total electrical power from 350kW (470bhp) to 250kW (335bhp), exposing the brittleness of energy management that teams had warned the FIA about since at least 2023.
- F1 will shift the energy split to 60-40 in favor of internal combustion by 2028, and engine suppliers are already finalizing a replacement formula — most likely a V8 turbo with 15-25% electrical power used as a push-to-pass system.
Why it matters: F1's 50-50 hybrid formula was sold five years ago to lure Audi, Ford, and Honda into the sport, but teams warned the FIA as early as 2023 that energy management would break the racing — and now a public FIA review, a delayed Grand Prix, and an accelerated 2028 engine overhaul confirm the bet went sideways.
Ask SkimNews
