Fans have lamented the Formula One’s hybrid power units since they were introduced to the sport in 2014, and many have hoped the series’ post-2020 engine regulations will do away with them. But that unsurprisingly won’t be the case.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas team principal Toto Wolff recently noted that, given F1’s reputation for pushing the boundaries of technology, it would make no sense to stray from the cutting-edge powertrains, according to Motorsport.com.
Many people who follow the series want it to ditch the complex turbocharged V-6 hybrid power units it currently utilizes and revert to naturally aspirated V-8 or V-10 engines. Manufacturers, the FIA and F1 executives, however, all are opposed to such a change of direction.
“I strongly believe that F1 stands for high technology and innovation, performance,” Wolff said. “If you try to crawl back in time to the famous (1980s) and (1990s), just because you liked it so much, it is the wrong strategy.”
F1’s managing director of motorsports, Ross Brawn, expanded on the fact that it’s “the wrong strategy,” suggesting that some people simply complain about the new technology, but don’t actually think about why they liked the old engines.
“We have a lot of fans who say ‘we want to go back to normally-aspirated engines,’ but then you have to ask the next question: why is that?” Brawn said, via Motorsport.com. “It’s because it creates more emotion with the noise and the revs.”
Most fans don’t have the same level of technical understanding of hybrid systems as they do of internal combustion engines, so they often assume ICEs are the only engines that can produce the sound they desire. In reality, however, the F1 strategy group reportedly already is working on improving the sound of the current units.
“There has been scope for various pillars that the new engine needs to have: cost of development needs to be under control, it needs to be high-tech, it needs to be hybrid, power-to-weight ratio needs to be better than it is now and now we need to look at the quality of sound,” Wolff said.
Considering the combination of F1’s 2017 aerodynamic regulations and the power outputs of team’s fourth-generation power units are leading to record-breaking lap times, you’d assume people would concede that the hybrid systems are superior, but that’s not the case. Hopefully the post-2020 engine regulations will fix the noise problem, so “purists” finally will accept that hybrids are here to stay.
Thumbnail photo via Mercedes-AMG Petronas
