FIA agrees with F1: "We cannot be hostage to automotive companies"

Motorsport photo As the debate surrounding the controversial 2026 F1 regulations rumbles on, the man tasked with implementing them has spoken out. FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis did not propose the near 50/50 split of electrical power to internal combustion engine output which lies at the heart of the latest regulations, but it was his team which had to turn the concept into a raceable reality. That process has required all manner of compromises to mitigate the inherent challenges involved in managing the deployment and recharging cycles of that electrical energy.

In a roundtable call with select media including Motorsport. com ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, Tombazis echoed the sentiments expressed by F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali in an exclusive interview with this website two weeks ago. Without pointing the finger of blame at the automotive manufacturers involved in F1, he conceded that their market priorities at the time effectively dictated the 50/50 principle.

Since it's widely acknowledged that the fundamentals of the next technical formula need to be agreed this year, the stakeholders need to avoid another scenario in which market priorities change before they are implemented. "It is true the political landscape has changed and back when we discussed the current regulations, the automotive companies who were very involved told us that they're never going to make another [new] internal combustion engine again," said Tombazis. Honda has quit F1 and come back four times since the 1960s Honda has quit F1 and come back four times since the 1960s "They were going to phase out and by whatever year they were going to be fully electrical.

"Obviously this hasn't happened. That's not to underestimate the importance of electrification globally but it didn't happen as much as said. Secondly, one of the not frequently discussed stories because it's not something visible, is that we did go for fully sustainable fuels.