(Motorsport-Total.com) – The Formula 1 drivers are not very euphoric about the announced rule changes for 2027 and 2028. The fact that the internal combustion engine will be upgraded and the importance of hybrid components will decrease is largely welcomed. However, the drivers are not entirely convinced.
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Oscar Piastri, for example, said before the Barcelona-Catalonia Grand Prix (follow all sessions here in the Formula 1 live ticker!): “The adjustments should alleviate our current problems. However, they will certainly not solve the problems.”
According to Valtteri Bottas, without simulator test drives, it is “difficult to say” what specific effects can be expected on the racetrack. “It will be different on the straights, but we still have to look at that. And on energy-intensive tracks like Spa-Francorchamps, we will still have difficulties.”
Nico Hülkenberg expects the changed technical rules to make a difference “only a little in energy management” at most. “But if everything works and is optimized, it won’t be dramatically different,” said the Audi driver.
Why Alonso doesn’t believe in a turning point
According to Fernando Alonso, the measures now presented cannot bring about a turning point at all: “The current powertrains have a DNA that is difficult to change. You can easily adjust the rules, but the car will always be slower in the corners to have more energy on the straights. That is the DNA of these rules.”
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The adjustments are therefore primarily an admission that “something went wrong from the start” with the Formula 1 regulations, Alonso continued. “Because if you change the rules for the following year before the seventh race weekend, that speaks volumes.”
Formula 1 drivers feel “heard”
However, no one in the Formula 1 paddock speaks of fundamental rejection. On the contrary: Liam Lawson and some of his fellow drivers praise the measures as “a step in the right direction.”
Carlos Sainz also said: “Even if the changes are not as extensive as we would have liked: I appreciate that FIA and FOM pushed these changes through. It won’t be ideal, but at least we are being heard and something is being done.”
Specifically, the internal combustion engine will be allowed to gradually develop more power until 2028, so that pure engine power will once again come more to the fore. Electrical power, on the other hand, will be partially restricted. The goal is a 60:40 percent weighting between internal combustion and hybrid power in the 2028 season – starting from the current 53:47. (Read all details here!)
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