Racing
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Mohammed Ben Sulayem says the FIA made mistakes with Formula 1’s 2026 engine regulations and is already consulting teams, manufacturers and drivers on a post-2030 reset that could include a V8 running on 100 percent sustainable fuel.
The FIA president’s admission came after fresh backlash during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, where drivers again attacked the 2026 power units’ heavy reliance on electrical deployment and energy management. The rules split power delivery 50/50 between the internal combustion engine and the electrical system, and Spa exposed the strain that creates on an energy-sensitive circuit.
Speaking to Viaplay, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said the governing body accepts responsibility for flaws in the regulations. “We do make mistakes. We do have loopholes like the teams,” he said. “But one thing that we will always do is we raise our hand and we fix it.”
Driver frustration at Spa was blunt. Oscar Piastri said, “It sucks. I can’t really say it any other way than that,” before adding that “when you’ve got qualifying grids decided by computers behaving or misbehaving, it’s a pretty crap way of going racing.” Haas driver Oliver Bearman said the current package can leave drivers spending so much time in internal-combustion-only running that he had “less power than a F2 car.”
Ben Sulayem said the response is not limited to short-term fixes. He said the FIA is working with teams, power-unit manufacturers and drivers on what he described as a fresh, completely new engine concept for the next regulation cycle after 2030. His priorities are clear: sound, simplicity and cost-effectiveness.
“Going back to the V8, we have to see what are the objectives? Why?” he said. “I feel there is a need of a fresh white paper engine that hits all the points.” He added that sound is “so important” for fans, alongside simplicity and lower cost.
He also said a sustainable-fuel V8 is already part of the discussion. “There is 100% sustainability with sustainable fuel,” he said, adding that the FIA is “consulting with the teams, with the PUMs, and also with the drivers.” Ben Sulayem stressed that driver input is central to the process, saying: “It’s not me, it’s not the teams. It’s the drivers who are driving these cars.”
Any major rewrite remains politically difficult. Ben Sulayem said the FIA cannot change the power-unit rules on its own because manufacturers must approve major moves, with “a super majority” of four out of six required, along with team agreement to keep the championship competitive and fair.
That leaves Formula 1’s engine debate on two tracks at once: resolving the current energy-management problems in the existing cycle, and shaping the 2031 rules around a concept the FIA now sees as potentially simpler, cheaper and louder without abandoning sustainability.