RacingFormula 1 is already pushing past its new 2026 power unit rules, with CEO and president Stefano Domenicali saying the sport needs to decide its next engine direction this year. Speaking to Autosport, Domenicali said F1 cannot afford to wait because the lead times are too long and the next step should be a lighter, simpler package built around sustainable fuel.
“We cannot lose too much time because time is passing so quickly,” Domenicali, Formula 1 CEO and president, said in an interview with Autosport. “We need to be robust enough to allow us not to be in a corner, we need to decide as soon as possible.” He then made the timeline clear: “Of course, we're going to be together with the FIA in discussing that. But that's something that this year we need to decide what could be next.”
That urgency comes even though the current rules have only just arrived. According to the report, talks on the 2026 power unit package began as early as 2021, which is why Domenicali is already looking beyond it. His preferred direction is also clear. He told Autosport he supports a future formula that keeps sustainable fuel at the center while shifting the balance away from heavy electrification and toward a stronger internal combustion engine.
“I definitely see personally, but it's up, of course, to the FIA to propose that, a sort of sustainable fuel for sure at the centre of the future, with a different balance of what could be the electrification with a strong internal combustion engine,” Domenicali, Formula 1 CEO and president, said in an interview with Autosport. He said that would “save a lot of kilos” and deliver “pure racing” through “a lighter car, smaller cars that you can really push as much as you can.” He added: “The purists should be happier.”
The wider direction lines up with comments already made by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who has publicly called for simpler, cheaper power units in the future. According to the report, there is also a growing paddock consensus that the most likely option for 2031 and beyond is a pre-2014-style concept, with more cylinders and a simplified hybrid component. The same report says changing views among manufacturers and governments on electrification, along with the arrival of advanced sustainable fuel this year, have helped make that route more realistic.
Domenicali also addressed the idea of bringing the next formula forward by one year, to 2030. According to the report, that would require a supermajority among power unit manufacturers under the current governance agreements. He said F1 has to respect the investment already made by manufacturers including Audi and Honda.
“In this moment, to have a manufacturer that invests in Formula 1 is something incredible, which deserves our total respect,” Domenicali, Formula 1 CEO and president, said in an interview with Autosport. He added that “you don't want to take that for granted.”
For now, the timing still sits inside the sport’s governance framework. “The regulations, in terms of governance, are expiring at the end of 2030,” Domenicali, Formula 1 CEO and president, said in an interview with Autosport. He said the FIA should lead the process on the next set of rules and then assess “if there is the possibility to eventually anticipate it or not.”