MPH: F1 in 'crisis meeting' as engine civil war threatens to erupt

Strap in tight, there’s a lot happening off-track as the Formula 1 circus gathers in Bahrain. Amid more controversy within the FIA – vice-president of sport Robert Reid handed in his resignation yesterday – there’s also today’s summit meeting between F1 management, the FIA and the engine manufacturers.

Ostensibly, the meeting is to discuss the future direction of F1 power units. But that makes it sound like just some routine bit of forward planning. It’s more than that; it’s a crisis meeting, a reaction to deep disquiet about the way the new-for-2026 PU regulations look like panning out.

The 50/50 electrical/internal combustion split decided upon some years ago is turning out to be deeply problematic. As the new formula dawns closer and internal readings have been made regarding where everyone is at, the possibility of there being a huge spread in performance between the various PUs looks very real. Of the five manufacturers, one looks to be in good shape, there is a dearth of information about another, the bio-fuel choice made by one (with the other four opting for synthetic) is reportedly uncompetitive and the remaining two PUs seem a long way behind. Furthermore, many of the key components and fuels have been homologated, potentially freezing-in a very unhealthy competitive spread.

The first order of business for the meeting is therefore probably going to be un-homologating what has so far been homologated. There is then a very real prospect of changing the electrical/combustion ratio to something less ambitious, at least in the short term, in order to get a more even spread of performance between the manufacturers.

It’s too late to abandon the formula entirely. Not only because at least two of the manufacturers (Audi and Honda) have only committed to F1 programmes on the strength of those regulations, but also because the practicalities of delaying for a year would mean there would not be enough existing engines for every team to be supplied by the start of the season, as their production has been wound down in the switch of focus to the new units. All this in the middle of a particularly volatile moment as the automotive world waits with bated breath to see if a global trade war is about to decimate its businesses.

In hindsight, the ’26 regulations appear ill-conceived. Some senior engineers and a few team principals are in fact very much in ‘I told you so’ mode and are still bitter at how at an early stage in the planning of the regulations they were taken out of the loop as senior automotive management insisted they didn’t need their interference in the process.