Why F1 can benefit from Mohammad Ben Sulem’s V8 push

It was the morning of the Glitzi season launch in the O2 Arena, London in February, when Formula 1 lost its collective head. There, it is said, during a F1 commission meeting, the then team principal of Christian Horner – Red Bull set its smartphone in the middle of the table.

“Bring V10s” shook the voice at the other end of the line: the former F1 ‘Ringmaster’ Burney Eclestone. And, Lo, the flock started its charge in that direction, only to crash on the apathy of the engine manufacturers of F1 during a crunch meeting ahead of Bahrain GP.

But FIA President Mohammad Ben Sulem, one of them, who overtakes himself on the day of February in London, still believes in the principle of returning to natural aspiration and and Set your stall during a media briefing ahead of British GP in July,

The new scheme adjusts the reservation expressed by the majority of engine manufacturers during the Bahrain Summit: This V10 was unsuitable at many levels, at least not the road-circulated front; And some types of electrification will have to be included to provide synergy with road car technologies,

This is a debate that has been furious among the inner sources of Padock for many years: F1 should be slawli mirror road car trends or should it adopt a so -called ‘set control for the heart of the sun’ policy, even if it separates the manufacturers, focus on noise and strength completely? Many purists spied the latter, but accept many practical problems, such as what will be with the manufacturer-based teams and who will actually manufacture the engine.

The V8s, as now spy by Ben Sulem, are more acceptable to manufacturers because many of them still have engines engines that are in the range somewhere. At the same time the idea of internal combustion is passing through something of the Renaissance, due to new techniques and development in the global trading picture.

For a long time, the direction of travel in the car industry has been towards complete electrification, which has been pushed by government law. But a significant ratio of consumers remains resistant, sees electric cars very expensive (and, of course, there are people who are afraid of their genitals, if they are driving anything other than the car other than the car with loud, noise and powerful interior combustion engine).

It faced it and the influx of cheap, state-business vehicles exported from China is beginning to panic. Former Renault Group boss Luka de Meo accepted the same before leaving,

Therefore there is still space for the internal combustion engine, provided that the new generation can be produced on a scale for a reasonable cost of synthetic fuel.

Assuming that F1 returned to a V8 engine format, the description will be for working about the ratio of size and electrification. The partition will be 50:50 next year, but it has proved to be controversial, and the technical formula has been adapted to embrace adaptive aerodynamics to reduce potential power deficiency on the straps. It is understood that the solution imagined by the FIA is to go in the ratio of 80:20 in favor of the ICU, or even 90:10.

The new format will be launched when the 2026 technical package has run its course, most likely 2030, although the President suggests that it may be earlier.

“We need to do it soon,” he said in silverstone. “You need three years, so hopefully we have something by 2029.”

Ben Sulem has also talked about achieving radical cost savings by standardizing components, including gearbox and hybrid systems. Former President Max Mosley tried to drive through something with these lines in late 2008 during the global financial crisis, conducted a tender process for a homogeneous drivetrain (eventually won by Cosworth and Havelland). An additional wrinkle of the plan was to open the new grid spot and those teams were effectively running with a budget cap in a championship tier using standard powertrain.

But this idea was eventually very complex and when Mosley stood up, that inspiration was lost. Jean Tod, the next president, let it die completely.

It is an argument to say that gearbox designs are expensive to develop and build, and no longer performance is differential, so a standardized component is not necessarily a negative. It can be grumbling about it McLaren Applied Technologies won the contract to supply the entire grid with homosexual engine control units. The apprehension of inequality and sperm proved to be baseless.

Standardized hybrid components can be more difficult for engine manufacturers to digest – but, equally, it is also an ‘invisible’ system as far as the audience is concerned and if it can be made less expensive, it will be supported. The status of the FIA is that the cost savings remains one of the most important factors at a time when F1 is being commercially concluded – as this situation can change at any time on the basis of geopolitics and global economy.

“As an FIA we are mediated during the discussion of the rules, to incorporate costs and create a level play ground for all,” Nicholas Tombazis, director of the FIA, told Cotorsport.com earlier this year.

“Sometimes there is some strong resistance, as you expect, protect their interests or investment from teams or PU manufacturers. Cost cuts and technical freedom levels are on Loggerheads with each other. It is not easy for both.

“PU manufacturer (to discuss about 2026 regulations), with several proposals to cut costs on many engine -related items. They were focused on simplification, ending certain materials, procedures and technologies.

“The cost of the cost we received is not as much as we all have liked. While we are in a very healthy condition as a game, in terms of financial and popularity, we should never be decent about it: cost cuts should always be a high priority.”

“Many manufacturers produce V8s in their cars, so it is commercially correct,” said Ben Sulem in Silverstone. “How much is this? The target is more than 50 percent (cheaper) in everything.”

This can not only be obtained through standardization parts, but also makes inexpensive materials mandatory. For example, it is known that the FIA wanted to go to the aluminum piston, but the engine manufacturers initially supported the idea, U-turn n Mass.

Another issue faces F1 towards ‘Net Zero’, which is a perfectly durable fuel cost that will be mandatory next year, in an area of $ 275- $ 300 per liter. This refers to both R&D investment that has had to go to develop these fuels and energy-intensive means of production. There is no solution to the problem of production of a reasonable cost yet.

Since all teams have commercial fuel-and-lubes supply deals, the question of absorbing those costs is likely to be separated based on how individual deals are structured. This is why another proposal of Ben Sulem is likely to withstand resistance: a single fuel supplier.

What goes into the tank is less than a display discrimination, as much as a chemical composition of the pump fuel is now determined, as is a permanent element – but the fuel brands still rely on the performance to tell their story. For example, Shell has created the identity of its VPower mix around its partnership Ferrari,

Would the story be left if the only mobile billboard for the choice of Ferrari Shell, while the inside was a different proven proven instead of cow-race slosing? Perhaps – after all, we live in the era of intense color.

Finally, if the cost can be reduced as much as the President wants, the grid will benefit as a whole – and some will care whether your tank has a tiger.