F1 team bosses and drivers are mixed about the V10 discussions that have been ongoing for some weeks now after Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s push.
As F1 braces for the big 2026 change whether on power unit and or chassis side, the FIA President Sulayem kick-started a discussion about a potential V10 return using the sustainable fuel replacing the current V6 hybrid. It came out of nowhere from the chief, catching everyone off-guard.
The 2026 change was to lure power unit manufacturers and they succeeded in getting Audi along with Ford (with Red Bull Powertrains) and even General Motors. Additionally, Honda decided to pull the plug initially, but they committed to continue on beyond the 2025 F1 season.
The wild talks includes retaining the current regulations, which includes power units, and go for an overhaul with the V10 units at a later time, whether 2028 or 2030. Some even implied of talks where the 2026 change will go ahead, but the cycle beyond it will feature V10 rather than V6.
The topic has generated mixed views everywhere, here’s what F1 drivers and team bosses have said –
Christian Horner: “I mean, obviously there’s a lot of debate about the future. We’ve got a set of regulations for next year, for 2026. I think there’s some limitations to those regulations as far as the show and the racing is concerned. I think there’s some aspects that… We’ve ended up in a situation where the chassis is having to compensate a huge amount for perhaps some of the shortcomings of the split in electrification and combustion. But, you know, it’s sort of ten past midnight and Cinderella’s left the building. So, the romantic in you—a screaming V10—so long as it’s done responsibly, with fully sustainable fuels, is hugely attractive. I think the big question is: when would that be for? And what would be the game plan between where we sit today and then? Because it would be a massive departure obviously to move away from what is currently being worked on very hard for 2026. But I think, from the fan in me, the concept of a screaming V10 engine would be very exciting for the sport—at whatever point it’s chosen for the future.
“I’d be very surprised [that 2026 regs change]. It’s very late in the day. There’s a governance, there’s a process, there’s rules in place. Obviously on the engines, a big commitment has been made. There’s an awful lot of talk about the future, engines for the future and I think that there needs to be a game plan sooner rather than later of what does that road map, not just for next year but the next 10 years of F1 look like. As I said, the Cinderalla has already left, it is already 10 past midnight. I think all teams are all in at the moment for 2026 so we’d have to understand what it was all about. We have a power unit business now, we’re running engines on dynos. There’s been some speculation that we’re pushing for a delay. That’s absolutely not the case. We’re geared up and ready for 2026. That’s our plan.”
Zak Brown: “Formula 1’s always been a very technical challenge when you have new regulations. I think this is no different for 2026. We’re happy to race and ready to race in whatever the rules may be. I think a V10, definitely—as Christian said—would be pretty cool with sustainable fuels. I don’t really see how you can unwind what’s in place, really because of all the different power unit changes that are happening right now. Audi’s coming in, Alpine’s going to Merc for an engine. Logistically, I’m not sure how you put the genie back in the bottle. But from our standpoint, we’re with HPP, very happy.
“They’re ready to go—or will be ready to go. And so that wouldn’t impact us. But it is a bit of a head-scratcher of how you would put that in place if you did want to make a change. And I think every time there’s a rule change, I remember when hybrids came in last time there was some concern, and that’s worked out just fine. So I’m sure the engineers will get on the technical challenge and remain very excited, as Formula 1’s always been.”
Oliver Oakes: “I think they’ve both summarised it pretty well there. I think it’s quite a romantic idea, but obviously the train has left the station now for 2026. I think it’s probably something beyond that that will be looked at because it does sound quite good for Formula 1 to go that way a little bit. But as Zak said, we are quite far along already.”
Toto Wolff: “I think we’re racing with exciting regulations next year that were brought in by the FIA to accommodate newcomers like Audi, and I guess we achieved that. This is what we should be looking forward to. All of that is exciting and an exciting adventure. Having said that, this is where we should put our emphasis on. This is what we should cheer for and speak about, with all the goodness that it’s going to bring, rather than looking too far forward. Having said that, we as Mercedes are always open, whether that’s in the future an eight or ten cylinder, naturally aspirated or turbo, energy recovery and whatever size. Absolutely you need to be open minded. We’re all racers. We like the engines of the past, and then you need to strike the right balance between what is exciting to us dinosaurs, screaming loud engines, and then the fanbase.
“We all are interested on track but maybe they have migrated a little bit from pure petrol heads to more younger demographics to families that are coming on track, that haven’t been part of those years and all of these should be set as questions, like in a way, what are the objectives for future regulation change in few years and then lets analyse that based on data, come to a conclusion that is for best of our sport because engine is most important denominator between the FIA, Formula 1, the teams that we have the greatest products for our fans.”
Frederic Vasseur: “I can say that I would love one day to have a V10 or V12 into the car. Don’t forget the ‘one day’ because today I think everybody is able to forget part of the sentence.”
Lewis Hamilton: “I mean, it is no secret that the V6 has never sounded great. I remember the first time I came to a Formula 1 race in 1996 at Spa and I remember Michael coming through Turn 1, and I was 12 or 13, and my rib-cage was just vibrating and I was hooked. It was the most amazing that I’ve felt or heard before, and over the years, we’ve lost that. So if we’re able to move back to those amazing sounding engines and we’re still able to meet all the sustainable goals, then yeah, why not?
“But it is an interesting shift when they went from the V10s to the V6s where they said it was to cut costs, and it has cost so much money to make these V6s work, bigger and heavier, whether they are actually more sustainable with all the battery packs we’ve had to use through the years. Maybe we should focus on sustainable fuels which would be better moving forward.”
Max Verstappen: “I’m not in charge of the rules. But of course, for pure emotion of the sport V10 is definitely much better than what we have now. I remember as a kid, when you walk around, you hear the noise of the engines. It just brings so much more. Even if the speed of the car was maybe slower, just the feeling you got from an engine like that is something that you can’t describe, I think, compared to what we have now. Maybe, yeah [V10 may change my mind to continue]. It’s definitely more exciting than what we have currently.”
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