Tombasis: We cannot be hostages to car manufacturers.

      Nicholas Tombazis, the FIA's director of single-seater racing, stated that Formula 1 cannot be held hostage by car manufacturers and will not allow them to dictate what racing power units should be.

      When discussing the regulations for 2026, representatives of the automotive industry insisted on a course towards electrification, which led to the decision on the power ratio generated by the internal combustion engine and electric systems being set at 50/50.

      However, the first races of the season showed that the new generation power units did not meet expectations, and there are too many difficulties, so discussions have already begun about the next set of technical regulations, which the championship may not transition to before 2031. In the meantime, attempts are being made to make adjustments to the current regulations, with the first amendments already adopted and coming into effect this week at the Miami event.

      There are also talks about a possible return to V8 engines, but they will run on synthetic fuel, which is less harmful to the environment. According to Tombazis, electrification is given a less significant role than in current power units.

      "First of all, the political landscape is changing, and it really is," he is quoted by Crash.net. "In the past, when we discussed the 2026 regulations, automotive companies were actively involved and told us that they no longer intended to develop new internal combustion engines.

      They planned to stop their production by some year to fully transition to electric power units. Of course, this is not happening. The significance of electrification on a global scale should not be underestimated, but its pace is not that high.

      And if we talk about what the future looks like to us, the task is to protect our sport from the influence of the global macroeconomic situation. This means that we cannot be held hostage by car manufacturers who decide for themselves whether to participate in our sport or not.

      Certainly, we want them to be part of Formula 1. That’s why we are putting in so much effort to create conditions for new car manufacturers to come in. However, we cannot afford to find ourselves in a position where we suddenly become vulnerable if they decide they do not want to participate in the championship. We also need to continue working on reducing costs.

      If we want to change something for the next cycle, we need to start discussing it very soon, as developing a power unit and creating an engine takes quite a bit of time. It seems a bit strange that we are discussing these issues when only a few races have passed, but this is a natural cycle for such processes, and we need to start now."