ANALYSIS: 2026 power unit regulations have been established with the engine manufacturers

FIA's Head of Powertrain Vincent Pereme has stressed that the rule set for the brand-new power units that will come into force in 2026 have been created in association with the main engine manufacturers.

Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, the FIA and Formula One released the technical regulations that will define the sport from 2026 onwards.

One of the key changes is that the new cars will be 30kg lighter than current generation F1 cars which should improve efficiency and handling.

Power units will also go through a significant overhaul as the much-debated MGU-H will be ditched and the ratio between the internal combustion engine and the electrical energy will be even.

The maximum deployment of electrical energy via the MGU-K (motor generator unit - kinetic) will go from 120 kilowatts (160 hp) under the current regs to a whopping 350 kw (475 hp) -- the same power output as the motor in a Formula E car.

The complete overhaul of the power unit has prompted the sport to introduce active aerodynamics to suit the energy management requirements of new power units. The new cars will run on 100% sustainable fuel.

Expanding on the process that led to the new power unit regulation, FIA's Head of Powertrain Vincent Pereme picked out the governing body held talks with the engine manufacturers on a regular basis to establish the main goals for the future.

"The starting point was in 2021 when we had meetings with the CEO of all five main engine manufacturers which were Renault, Ferrari, Mercedes joined by Audi and Ford.

"The goal of those discussions was to decide all together what would be the main goal of those new regulations. The outcome of those never ending discussions were three points.

"They wanted to have a cost which was controlled and reduced drastically compared to what they were spending today. That was the point number one.

"They wanted to have sustainability as the main topic for those new regulations, and they also wanted to have the ERS, the electrical engine being the focus of the development.

"For sustainability, they all wanted to put the focus on the electric engine while the combustion engine needed to remain, but being fed with fully sustainable fuel.

Pereme revealed that the complex MGU-H component of the current power units has been removed in order to establish an environment in which new engine manufacturer are not handicapped by the wealth of experience of engine-makers that have been part of Formula One for a long time.

"In order to help the newcomers, we also wanted to make sure that we wouldn't give too much of an advantage to the current teams with all the experience they gained in the last eight years.

"Therefore, we had to remove the MGU-H to have a fair, open fight with everybody in 2026. From an expected 540 KW combustion engine and 120 KW MGU-K today, we moved to a 400 KW combustion engine and 350 KW electrical engine.

"The way to achieve this change in performance was by reducing the fuel flow on the combustion engine, and to increase the battery size and the size of the electrical engine on the ERS.

"Thanks to a much bigger electrical engine in 2. We'll be able to harvest much more energy in the braking phase and then use that energy for the next acceleration.

"The thing I'm the most proud of with those regulations is that they have been issued now and that we were able with six engine manufacturers, FOM and the FIA to reach a global agreement on all those articles.

"That was a big challenge, it took us a while, but I mean we did it all together," concluded Pereme.