F1 has "to take the positives from the last four years," claims Vasseur
With only half a year away from the introduction of the all-new technical regulations, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur reflected on the positives of the current technical era, highlighting the fact that the cars display a very similar performance level which leads to a close racing in most of the cases.
Although there are still eight races to complete this season, teams have already begun their preparing for Formula 1's technical overhaul which will lead to all-new cars in 2026.
The basic architecture of F1's hybrid power was introduced back in 2014. It is a turbocharged 1.6 litre V6 engine, complemented by an exceptionally efficient energy recovery system.
This is split into two parts: the MGU-K (motor-generator unit – kinetic) is similar to the technology used by road-going hybrids, harvesting energy when the car brakes; the MGU-H (motor-generator unit – heat) is powered by the stream of hot exhaust gases, generating electrical energy from the turbocharger when it's not being used to pressurise engine air.
The 2026 regulations simplify F1's power units by doing away with the MGU-H. Its loss is compensated by a much more potent MGU-K. The amount of electrical power that can be generated is rising from 120kW to 350kW, while the amount of energy being recovered under braking will double, to around 8.5 megajoules per lap.
In addition, from 2026, Formula 1 will switch to 100% sustainable fuel, but the expected price increase is far higher than current levels. Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur has stressed that the sport needs to keep in mind how big of a step it will be to switch to sustainable fuel.
Reflecting on the current technical regulation that will be replaced by the all-new technical era next year, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur highlighted the fact that the current rules have led to incredivly close racing.
"And don’t forget, in Budapest, we had four different teams, six cars, I think within less than one-tenth. That’s proper racing. For sure, McLaren is dominating – I’m not stupid – but they’re a step ahead.
"Also probably a bit in tyre management and so on. But I think we’ve reached a point where we have a proper fight today. And don’t forget also that we developed this generation of cars under the cost cap—it’s the first generation under cost cap.
"That means we have to take the positives from the last four years. We’ve had different winners, different teams able to win races, and from my point of view, it’s been a good show and good sport," concluded the Frenchman.
Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies admitted that he had negative feelings ahead of the introduction of the current cars in 2022 as he had expected teams to come up with very similar concepts.
"I think if you ask Stefano, he’ll probably remind you that we were all criticising these cars before they came out. And in the end, we got incredible racing. I was in the ‘bad guys’ group—we were all thinking that the cars would all be the same, that there would be too much standardisation, and that performance levels would be too close.
"It turned out not to be exactly true. We got four years of incredible competition. Up to now, you still have one team dominating, and another team has been dominating in the past. So I think, when you combine that with the fact that these cars are the fastest ever, or nearly so, I think they’ve given us quite a great show.
"We’ve seen a lot of overtaking this year. So personally, I feel good about these cars. They brought something great to Formula 1 – technologically very advanced. It was a challenge for everyone. The ground effect cars caught nearly all the teams out in 2022, with the bouncing and everything. I think we had a great show. And combined with this engine, I think it raised the bar to a very high level."
