INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
What a difference a week makes
This past weekend, Formula 1 went back to Bahrain, the site of this year's preseason test, for round four of the 2025 season
Last week's race in Japan sent many to sleep, but that was definitely not the case on Sunday
The overtaking was frenetic, the sparks didn't set anything on fire, and the title fight just got that little bit more complicated
It was a heck of a race.Before the racing got underway, the sport got some clarity on future powertrain rules
An ambitious new ruleset goes into effect next year, with an all-new, small-capacity turbocharged V6 engine working together with an
electric motor that powers the rear wheels
Just under half the total power comes from the hybrid system, much more than the two hybrid systems on current F1 cars, and developing them
like a naturally aspirated V10.
McLaren's Norris and Ferrari's Hamilton at speed.
Credit:
Mark Sutton - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
This would placate Red Bull
Next year, that team will field an engine of its own design and manufacture (albeit with Ford providing the hybrid stuff), and it has been
decouple F1 from the automakers.But naturally aspirated V10s don't mean much to the tens of millions of fans who have flocked to the sport
Cadillac, and Ford, which committed to the 2026 rule set specifically because the powertrains are hybridized
So we're going to stick with the original plan and can expect hybrids to continue into the 2031 ruleset, too, albeit probably a much
smaller, lighter, cheaper, and less powerful electrified system than we'll see next year.
