F1: proposal to report the V10 engines set to be refused

Koji Watanabe, president of the Honda Racing Corporation, told Motorsport.com Japan: “We know that the FIA ​​intends to introduce V10 engines naturally aspirated from 2028. However, we have not received detailed information from the FIA. There will be meetings organized by the FIA, which will participate the producers of engines and we would like to discuss before discussing.

“At the moment we have no detail. We cannot say if the V10 are acceptable or not in terms of efficiency. First we would like to understand the details of what is proposed before starting a discussion.

“There is a meeting and in that meeting we want to express our point of view as motor producers.

“As for Honda, our reason for the entry of F1 is again electrification and (the type of) engine.”

Mercedes is open to discuss the idea of ​​a new engine formula, but claims that it would need to preserve a hybrid element so that the company remains interested.

The opposition of Honda and Audi alone is sufficient to syllite the plan. With Mercedes also against the idea of ​​abandoning hybrids, it seems to have no chance of success, even if they say that Red Bull and Ferrari support the idea.

The producers will meet with the FIA ​​to discuss the future of the engines at the Bahrain Grand Prix on 11 April.

The FIA ​​hopes to guarantee a clear response on the vision of manufacturers for the future.

Ben Sulayem had reported that the introduction of sustainable fuels, which cut carbon emissions from an internal combustion engine between 80-100% depending on the way the fuel is produced, could open the door to the return of high and high shore engines.

V10S has become the default engine in F1 from the mid -90s until 2005, after which sport has passed to V8S and has a resonance with a certain section of the fan base.

However, the boss of the Mercedes F1 Toto Wolff is one of the numerous senior figures that have wondered if the changing fans’ demographic means means that the V10s are no longer so important.

Many younger and feminine fans were interested in F1 following the Covid pandemic and the success of the Survive Drive to Survive series of Netflix.

Wolff said: “You have to have an open mentality. We are all runners, we like the engines of the past and therefore you have to find the right balance between what is exciting for us dinosaurs, screaming strong engines and then the base of fans and the audience that are on the track.

“And perhaps this has emigrated a little from pure petrol heads to the younger demographic data, to the feminists who are coming to the track who have not even been part of those years.

“All this must be set as questions, since what are the objectives for a future change of regulation in a few years, so let’s analyze it on the basis of data and reaches a conclusion that is for the best of our sport.

“Because this is the most important denominator between FIA, Formula 1, the teams, which we want to have the largest product for our fans.”