FIA adds 67hp to combustion

Formula 1’s next engine fight is not really about nostalgia. It’s about drivability. The FIA and F1 have now agreed in principle to tilt the 2027 power units back toward the combustion engine after teams, manufacturers, and drivers spent the early 2026 races wrestling with the new hybrid balance. The big change is simple on paper — 50 kW more from the internal-combustion side, 50 kW less from the electrical side — but it tells you the 2026 formula has already exposed a real problem. ### What was broken? The 2026 rules were built around a near-50/50 split between engine power and electric power. That sounded modern and tidy. But on track, drivers ended up managing energy in ways that made the cars feel strange into corners and on long straights. The complaint was not just that the cars were slower in certain phases — it was that the power delivery stopped feeling natural. (racer.com) ### Why does 50 kW matter so much? Because 50 kW is about 67 horsepower, and in F1 that is not a trim change. It is a personality transplant. The revised 2027 target moves the balance from roughly 50/50 to 60/40 in favor of combustion. Basically, the FIA is admitting that the all-in hybrid experiment went a step too far if the goal is cars drivers can race instinctively rather than constantly nurse. (fia.com) ### Why were drivers so unhappy? The catch is energy harvesting. If too much lap performance depends on the battery, drivers have to think earlier and more aggressively about where they lift, coast, recharge, and redeploy. That can create weird speed differences between cars and awkward corner approaches. The FIA’s own language around the change is revealing — “safer, fairer and more intuitive” is not how you talk about a system everyone loves. (roadandtrack.com) ### Why did Miami matter? Miami was the first real proof point that the 2026 package needed help. F1 had already brought in shorter-term tweaks for this season, and those changes seem to have convinced stakeholders that a deeper hardware rebalance was worth doing for 2027. So this is not a random reversal. It is the next step after seeing the early version behave in the wild. (abc.net.au) ### Is F1 abandoning hybrid power? No — and that is the important nuance. The electrical side is being reduced, not scrapped. F1 still wants the engines to be hybrid, still wants the sustainability story, and still wants manufacturers to see road relevance. But turns out there is a line where “relevant” starts hurting the racing product. The 2027 tweak is F1 trying to step back from that line without throwing out the whole concept. (racer.com) ### Does this mean the 2026 rules failed? Not completely. But it does mean the original vision has already been softened. That matters because the 2026 engine rules were sold as a major reset — simplified hardware, more electrical contribution, and a new balance meant to attract manufacturers. If the sport is reweighting that formula before 2027 even arrives in full maturity, the message is clear: engineering elegance lost to racing reality. (racer.com) ### What still has to happen? The agreement is in principle, not the final legal text. The changes still need to move through the formal approval chain — including the relevant committees and a World Motor Sport Council vote. But broad support means the direction now looks set. The debate has shifted from whether F1 should rebalance the power unit to how fast it can lock the rewrite in. (fia.com) ### Bottom line F1 is not adding 67 horsepower because fans miss loud engines. It is doing it because the new hybrids asked drivers to race like battery accountants. The 2027 rewrite is the sport choosing feel over theory — and admitting that even in Formula 1, the smartest rulebook still has to survive contact with an actual corner. (racer.com)