Formula 1 has only recently agreed its new technical regulations for the 2026 season, but already thoughts are turning to what comes next.
The series is pinning high hopes on the introduction of ‘sustainable’ fuel for the season after next, alongside the most powerful hybrid power units the series has seen so far.
But F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali is already talking up the possibility that using a synthetic substitute for fossil fuels will allow F1 to move away from hybrid power altogether. And he’s not thinking many years away – earlier this year Domenicali suggested it could happen as early as 2030, which would coincide with F1’s much-touted deadline of achieving ‘net zero’ carbon emissions.
That appeal of doing away with hybrids is obvious from a sporting point of view: The batteries and motors add weight and complexity. F1 car weights will rise to 800 kilograms next year, 158kg more than in the season before the current hybrids were introduced, though not all of that rise is down to the power units.
Domenicali hopes F1 will be able to consider doing away with hybrids “if sustainable fuels work.” Anyone who’s seen the many F1 cars already running on sustainable fuels, such as those demonstrated by Sebastian Vettel, knows the question of chemistry is not in doubt. The real question over whether sustainable fuels ‘work’ is whether they can be produced cost-effectively at the scale needed to replace the fossil fuels many of us pump into our cars.
Does F1 need to be concerned about that? Would it be ‘bad optics’ for the series to run on a fuel which is sustainable but largely unavailable? Or should it lead the way by showing a sustainable solution exists, however difficult it may be to obtain?
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Formula 1 is supposed to be about pushing the boundaries of performance. If sustainable fuels offer a way to do this while reducing emissions, why not exploit them to their fullest?
Few will mourn the passing of the current era of heavy cars and complex, expensive hybrid power units. The FIA is eager to use the opportunity of the 2026 regulations change to push teams towards creating lighter cars. But they are hamstrung by the weight of the power units and teams doubt even the meagre 30kg weight saving targeted is achievable.
F1 cars are built from many materials and substances which are out of reach to the average motorist. The climate crisis does not mean that should change…
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