The FIA and Liberty Media have revealed the proposed changes to be made to the current Formula 1 engines in 2021, after a meeting between all the requisite parties in Paris on Tuesday.
Talks have been taking places for much of the year between the governing body, new F1 bosses and manufacturers both current and potential aimed at shaping the future power unit regulations in the sport as criticism continues of the current formula introduced in 2014.
Indeed, the focus of the changes has been on addressing the issues highlighted with the current engines, namely the cost and complexity for teams and suppliers as well as increasing the appeal to fans who have been turned off by the lack of sound and a number of engine-related penalties drivers face.
That has had to be mixed, however, with maintaining a technological relevance that will make F1 attractive to major carmakers, which is why the basic 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrid formula will remain in 2021.
Several notable changes have been made, however, with the rev limit of the V6 engine increased from 15,000rpm back to the 18,000rpm limit used in the V8 era, this should signal a noticeable increase in the sound of the engine, though the deeper tone will remain.
In the hybrid ERS, the heat recovery system, known as the MGU-H will be removed. This will make the engines simpler and will be very welcome to the likes of Renault and Honda who have particularly struggled with this part of the power unit.
This also signals a return to the pre-2014 setup of an ICE with an MGU-K, formerly KERS, which will be more powerful than that used between 2009 and 2013.
As with KERS, the new hybrid system will see the driver control the deployment of energy but now comes with the option of saving energy over several laps to then use in attack or defence against a car around them.
A single turbo, energy store and control electronics remain unchanged but limits on the number of fuels and regulation of fuel mixture are set to be discussed following the oil burning controversy this year.
To save costs, design parameters are to be introduced to limit development and also work against extreme concepts in design and/ or how they run along with a greater focus on better integrating of the engines and transmission into the chassis to allow teams to “plug and play”, as the FIA put it, to overcome the lengthy current process of changing an engine.
These ideas will now be discussed and further developed with the relevant parties before being ratified and made official but it will be interesting to see how the manufacturers considering an entry into the sport, the likes of Porsche, Aston Martin and Cosworth will respond.
Offering his view, the Managing Director of Motorsport at the Formula One Group, Ross Brawn declared this the first step in shaping a better F1 and one that sees everyone working to the same goal.
“The 2021 power unit is an example of the future way the FIA as regulators, F1 as Commercial Right Holders, the teams and the manufacturers as stakeholders will work together for the common good of the sport,” he claimed.
“The proposal presented today was the outcome of a series of meetings which took place during 2017 with the current teams participating in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship and the manufacturers who showed their interest to be part of the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Also, we’ve carefully listened to what the fans think about the current PU and what they would like to see in the near future with the objective to define a set of regulations which will provide a powertrain that is simpler, cheaper and noisier and will create the conditions to facilitate new manufacturers to enter F1 as powertrain suppliers and to reach a more levelled field in the sport.
“The new F1 has the target to be the world’s leading global sports competition married to state of the art technology. To excite, engage, and awe fans of all ages but to do so in a sustainable manner. We believe that the future power unit will achieve this.”
