Formula 1's governing body has agreed in principle to tear up one of the most polarising elements of its 2026 power-unit rulebook, scrapping the 50/50 split between combustion and electrical power for 2027 in a bid to make the cars easier to drive and the racing more predictable.
The changes, signed off at this week's F1 Commission meeting and now heading to the World Motor Sport Council for an e-vote, will lift the internal combustion engine's output by roughly 50kW while cutting the same amount from the energy recovery system. That moves the deployment balance closer to a 60/40 ICE-to-electric ratio, with peak ICE power rising to around 450kW (536bhp) and ERS deployment dropping to roughly 300kW (402bhp).
The FIA framed the package as a refinement rather than a U-turn, saying the measures were aimed at "making competition safer, fairer and more intuitive for drivers and teams". The federation confirmed the proposal would see "a nominal increase in Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) power by ~50kW alongside a fuel-flow increase and a nominal reduction of the Energy Recovery System (ERS) deployment power by ~50kW".
The rewrite is a direct response to a wave of criticism from drivers and team principals over the 2026 cars, which have been faulted for unpredictable electrical deployment, awkward race starts and corner-by-corner energy harvesting that drivers have struggled to manage. Reigning four-time champion Max Verstappen, who described the smaller in-season tweaks introduced for Miami as "just a tickle", has been among the most vocal critics.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur conceded the in-season changes had been a delicate balancing act. "It's never easy to do a change during the season," Vasseur said. "Because as soon as you want to change something on the regulation, you are impacting the relative performance of the car. But I think for once that we were able to do, let's say, good work, even if everybody wants to get more."
McLaren's Andrea Stella was more strident, urging the F1 Commission not to let the 2027 fix slip into 2028. "Hardware adjustments to the power unit in order to improve F1 in general, I personally think are required," Stella argued. "I would urge that possibly this conversation needs to be finalised before the summer break, to be in time to do it for 2028."
The technical brief is straightforward in principle but politically loaded. Manufacturers that have spent years tooling for the 50/50 architecture — chiefly Mercedes, Ferrari, Audi and Honda — must now sign off on hardware changes that will partially rewrite the spec they have been developing since 2022. The fuel-flow increase, paired with the higher ICE ceiling, also raises the prospect of a knock-on tweak to fuel allocations later in the cycle.
There are also competitive implications. Honda's struggles with vibrations on the Aston Martin power unit, and the well-publicised reliability concerns at Audi, mean the catch-up provisions known as ADUO (Additional Development Upgrade Opportunities) are already in play. A more ICE-biased deployment philosophy could either accelerate that catch-up or expose the manufacturers still chasing combustion efficiency.
For now the proposal is, in the F1 Commission's own language, "agreed in principle only". The technical working group will hammer out the detail in the coming weeks before the WMSC e-vote that will lock the rules in for 2027. But after months of headlines about a 2026 ruleset that drivers have publicly disliked, the political signal from Geneva is unmistakable: the 50/50 era is over before it has finished its first season.
Source: newsformula.one