FIA's 2027 F1 engine fix faces costly next step

The FIA said on Friday that Formula 1 teams, power unit manufacturers, F1 and the governing body had unanimously agreed in principle on a 2027 shift from the current near-50/50 combustion-electric split to roughly 60/40, cutting electric deployment by about 50kW and adding around 50kW to the internal-combustion engine. That is the clearest sign yet that the 2026 power unit concept has not worked as intended, but the harder battle now is turning that direction into a legal package without forcing expensive redesigns across the grid.

The FIA’s own statement underlined that the agreement was only on principle, not on final rules. It said: “Before deciding the final package, it was agreed that further detailed discussion is necessary in the technical working group composed of teams and power unit manufacturers.” The proposal still has to be refined through the technical process before it can go on to the Power Unit Advisory Committee and then the FIA World Motor Sport Council for ratification.

That leaves the sport with a headline number, but not a settled route to achieve it. A source on Friday evening summed up the problem bluntly: “The bigger question is how we get there, even if the numbers are fine.”

The push for change has come from the way the 2026 rules have shaped racing. Drivers have complained that pushing hard in corners can leave them exposed to power loss on the straights because energy harvesting and deployment have become too decisive. FIA Formula Sport Director Nikolas Tombazis said in a recent media session: “One of the reasons why the calibration was not optimal from the start is that the cars are going a bit faster.” He added that teams had generated more downforce than expected, which meant less energy was being recovered under braking and left F1 with “a slightly bigger challenge than we would have liked.”

In simple terms, F1 has accepted that the original balance needs to move back toward the combustion engine. The Friday direction would reduce electrical deployment from 350kW to 300kW and increase combustion output through higher fuel flow. That should lessen the risk of the abrupt energy shortages that have shaped racing under the current package.

But getting there is where the politics and cost start. Multiple reports say a 60/40 split is not thought possible with the current homologated hardware alone, which means some level of engine hardware reopening may be required. More combustion power means more fuel flow, and that brings consequences for fuel tank size, cooling, battery demands and component durability because the existing parts were designed and stress-tested around the original rules.

That knock-on effect could spread from the engine to the whole car. Steve Nielsen, Alpine adviser, warned that if the solution requires a bigger fuel tank, “a new chassis is required.” For teams that had hoped to carry over a 2026 chassis into 2027 to control costs, that would force a major rethink of their plans.

The budget issue is central because teams did not build their 2027 spending assumptions around a late power-unit-related redesign. If chassis changes, fuel system revisions or durability upgrades become necessary, the cost cap will come under pressure. There is also a competitive complication around the ADUO catch-up system, which was designed to help manufacturers that are behind with extra test-bench time and upgrade opportunities. If homologation is reopened and the 2027 engines effectively become a fresh development target, those allowances could become more than a simple equalization tool.

That is one reason the FIA’s use of “unanimous” is being treated carefully in the paddock. The sport may broadly agree that the 2026 formula needs correction, and Christian Horner had argued as early as 2023 that shifting the power distribution by five to 10 percent toward the combustion engine could solve the problem. But agreeing on a direction is easier than agreeing on who pays for the hardware changes, who gets regulatory flexibility and how much redesign is allowed.

Nielsen also pointed to the strain of trying to absorb more late rule changes into already packed programs. “We’ve seen a lot of regulation changes in the last few weeks,” he said. “I hope it calms down a bit, but our ability to react will be stretched if we start getting major changes in the next few months for next year.”

So while F1 has now moved beyond the question of whether it wants a 60/40 engine split, the real contest is over the terms of that fix: whether homologation is opened, whether teams need new chassis, whether the cost cap is adjusted and whether the burden falls evenly across manufacturers before 2027 arrives.