F1 power unit changes required but difficult before 2028, says McLaren

Motorsport photo McLaren F1 team boss Andrea Stella thinks further changes to the power unit regulations are still required, but the timelines involved are pushing any tweaks to 2028 rather than next year. F1 recently agreed on a first set of refinements to improve the qualifying spectacle and reduce the extreme closing speeds seen over the first few races of the 2026 rules era. Last weekend's Miami Grand Prix was the first run under the tweaked ruleset and looked to bring modest improvements, with the jury still out on the exact impact of changes to the energy management until F1 heads to more energy-starved circuits later this spring.

While further sporting tweaks are not ruled out if necessary, there is a belief that more significant improvements will require changes to the actual hardware of the power unit, such as an increase in fuel flow which would squeeze more horsepower out of the internal combustion engine and alter the energy balance away from the electric engine, or a bigger battery which means cars don't run out of energy so quickly. A lower-impact move would be for the FIA to implement a minor reduction in downforce levels, as lower cornering speeds mean cars spend less energy. However, provided F1 stakeholders come to an agreement through the relevant power unit governance structure, any moves to make structural changes to the power unit look extremely unlikely before 2028 at the earliest given the timelines involved, as an increase in fuel flow is not something the current engines are designed for.

It would have an impact further downstream on the fuel tank and chassis, with several teams having already planned to stick to their current chassis for next season. McLaren's Stella, whose team uses Mercedes customer engines, says an increase in fuel flow and a move to bigger batteries is required to fix the current formula, but acknowledged it would be difficult to push through for 2027. "Hardware adjustments to the power unit in order to improve Formula 1 in general, I personally think are required," Stella said when asked for his view on the topic by Motorsport.

Andrea Stella, McLaren Andrea Stella, McLaren "They will have to do realistically with the fuel flow to increase the power from the internal combustion engine. I think they might have to do with harvesting more power than the power you actually deploy, because you spend much more time deploying electrical power, rather than harvesting it. This can be rebalanced by harvesting to a larger power than we do today.