Formula 1 looks at 3.0 L V8 turbos and smaller hybrids for 2030

Regenerative braking isn’t the only way to recharge an F1 car’s battery, though. The electric motor can also act as a generator, siphoning power from the V6 to charge the battery—this is called “super clipping.” But any power going to the electric motor is power that isn’t going to the rear wheels. So sometimes an F1 car will have 1,005 hp (750 KW) and sometimes 536 hp (400 kW) if the battery is empty and only the V6 is powering the car. It sometimes has even less if it’s super clipping, where up to 335 hp (250 KW) is diverted to the electric motor instead of the rear wheels. And most of that is out of the driver’s control. Instead, complex and somewhat opaque algorithms are in charge, and they are supremely sensitive to driving style. More than a few times this season, we’ve seen a driver crash after a sudden torque spike they weren’t expecting. The varying power outputs created some alarming speed differentials on track, and the sport’s organizers have tweaked the energy deployment rules somewhat for qualifying to ameliorate the problem. However, the fix has slowed the cars even more during the one part of the weekend they’re supposed to be completely flat-out. Retaining a turbo allows F1 to claim more road relevance than a naturally aspirated engine might. So, too, does sticking with a hybrid system, but one that will be seriously downsized. Although Autosport did not provide a proposed output for the V8, we might expect just 134 hp (100 kW) of electric assist for the next generation of F1 car. There’s also no mention of whether the turbocharger will be part of the hybrid system, as it was from 2014 to 2025. Electric turbochargers are now appearing on some road cars; F1 dropped the tech in 2026 on cost and complexity grounds, with the trade-off of reintroducing turbo lag as something drivers have to anticipate. Gratifyingly, the next F1 power units should help reverse the trend of the past two decades, which saw a car’s minimum weight (including the driver) rocket from 1,322 lbs (605 kg) in 2006 to 1,763 lbs (800 kg) in 2025 before coming down to 1,693 lbs (768 kg) for this year. The agreement says the new power units should be at least 110 lbs (50 kg) lighter than the current 408-lb (185-kg) minimum, which includes the internal combustion engine, electric motor-generator unit, turbocharger, battery pack, control electronics, and exhausts. Some form of in-race boost is apparently still under discussion, with a preference for a limited-use power-up similar to IndyCar’s “push to pass,” which gives each driver 200 seconds of added power during a race at their discretion, as opposed to a return to the drag reduction system used by F1 until the start of this year. Autosport says that the question of whether to introduce the new rules in 2030 or 2031 remains open. Although some voices in the sport want to see change sooner than later, for the engine manufacturers, that means writing off the current power units prematurely. This would hit Cadillac hardest, as it’s only planning to introduce its in-house V6 for the start of the 2029 season.