Audi opposes FIA’s naturally aspirated V8 plan

Audi has become the first manufacturer to clearly push back on the FIA’s preferred shape of Formula 1’s next engine era, with Formula 1 chief Mattia Binotto insisting the sport must keep turbocharging as it moves toward a cheaper, simpler V8 formula after 2030.

Binotto told Motorsport.com that there is broad agreement among F1’s six power unit manufacturers on the general direction of travel for 2031: a V8 engine, a smaller electric component and sustainable fuels. But he made clear Audi does not want the finer details to strip out a core part of what it sees as modern efficiency, placing the company at odds with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s proposal for a naturally aspirated 2.6-litre V8 with a common KERS system.

“Audi has always supported the importance of efficiency,” Binotto said in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com. He said that matters not only for performance but for “fuel consumption, emissions, and technology transfer between motorsport and series production.” The challenge, he added, is to produce an F1 engine that remains “highly efficient” while also being “less complex, lighter, and affordable.”

That response cuts to the key question now facing the rulemakers. The debate is no longer just about whether Formula 1 should move away from its current complex power units. It is also about what kind of V8 the manufacturers are actually willing to support.

Ben Sulayem’s plan, reported by British media citing Motorsport Italia, is for a 2.6-litre naturally aspirated V8 running on sustainable fuel and paired with a common KERS system worth an extra 122 to 136 horsepower. The FIA wants the rules introduced in 2031, but is also seeking agreement from manufacturers to bring them forward to 2030, with a target total cost of no more than 500,000 euros.

Audi is not alone in its resistance to the naturally aspirated concept. The same reports say Mercedes also believes a turbo is necessary, underlining that support for a V8 reset does not yet extend to the exact architecture Ben Sulayem is advocating.

The discussion also reaches beyond engine design. Ben Sulayem has floated the idea of a white-label third-party power unit for independent teams, as part of a wider rethink of customer supply in F1. But any attempt by the FIA to impose a full new formula from 2031, or to force through a customer-team ban, would risk alienating the manufacturers Formula 1 has worked to attract.

Binotto said he expects the governing body to steer that process, but warned the outcome must be more than a political halfway house. “I think the FIA, as the regulatory body, is rightly called upon to lead this discussion,” he said. “Formula 1 needs the manufacturers, just as the manufacturers need Formula 1.” He added that the sport must find “not simply a compromise, but the best possible one for everyone,” leaving the turbo question as one of the first real pressure points in the fight over F1’s post-2030 engine rules.