Instead of using DRS as an overtaking aid, the hybrid power units will now fulfill that role. Overtake mode, which can be used if a driver is within a second of a car ahead, gives them an extra 0.5 MJ of energy and up to 350 kW from the electric motor up to 337 km/h—without the Overtake mode, the MGU-K tapers off above 290 km/h. There’s also a second Boost mode, which drivers can use to attack or defend a position, that gives a short burst of maximum power.
Change can often be unsettling, and over the past couple of years, there has been criticism of the rules, specifically the emphasis on so much hybrid power, which now requires active aero to not make the cars too slow. Some have even suggested a swifter end to the incoming rules and then a switch to naturally aspirated engines, although that now seems very unlikely.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali rejected that idea. “F1 needs to be relevant. And in terms of technical development, the fact that we receive new manufacturers in our sport means that the relevancy, from the technical perspective I’m talking, of course, it has been more important, has been achieved,” Domenicali told me. “Therefore, as always when there is such a technical change, it is quite massive. Like you said, it is not only a new power unit that you’re managing, it’s a new car, it’s a new way to race.”
As Domenicali said, the new technical regulations certainly have been a success in attracting new manufacturers to the sport. In addition to Audi joining the sport—we spoke with him at the Audi launch last month—Cadillac is entering as a new team as well (albeit without their own engines until 2029). After pulling back from the sport, Honda has recommitted. And Ford has signed up, too, providing the hybrid side of the power unit that will go into next year’s Red Bull and Racing Bull cars.
The first preseason test gets underway on January 26, with the first race weekend in Australia March 6–8.
