The FIA and Formula 1 have together announced the projected new engine regulations for 2021, which were presented to the teams on Tuesday.
At a meeting in Paris, the FIA and F1’s commercial rights holder Liberty Media launched their plans to overhaul the current engine format ready for the 2021 season.
To improve fan engagement and reduce costs, the engine regulations have detailed a number of changes while keeping the baseline V6 turbo format used within the current ruleset.
Aiming to boost the much-maligned sound of the current power units, the running speed has been raised by 3000rpm. The formula has also become less complex, and the MGU-H has been removed while the electronics and energy store will become standardised parts.
The MGU-K’s role in the power unit assembly has also been redefined, with the FIA targeting a more powerful unit “with focus on manual driver deployment in race, together with option to save up energy over several laps” which should yield an increase of tactical on-track racing.
In addition to standardised parts, the engine should also become cheaper through tighter design parameters, which should restrict development costs and provide a greater ” ‘Plug-And-Play’ engine/chassis/transmission swap capability”.
Ross Brawn, F1’s Managing Director of Motorsports, revealed that the new regulations were formulated with regards to the opinions of fans, as well as the current teams and a range of potential incoming manufacturers.
“The 2021 power unit is an example of the future way the FIA as regulators, F1 as commercial right holders, the teams and the manufacturers as stakeholders will work together for the common good of the sport,” said Brawn.
“The proposal presented today was the outcome of a series of meetings which took place during 2017, with the current teams participating in F1 and the manufacturers who showed their interest to be part of the pinnacle of motorsport.
“We’ve carefully listened to what the fans think about the current power unit, and what they would like to see in the near future, with the objective to define a set of regulations which will provide a powertrain that is simpler, cheaper and noisier.
“[This] will create the conditions to facilitate new manufacturers to enter Formula 1 as powertrain suppliers and to reach a more levelled field in the sport.”
Over the next twelve months, work will continue into defining the regulations behind the new power unit concept, which should be available to engine manufacturers at the end of 2018.
The FIA and F1 will also work with the current teams in order to define the restrictions in power unit testing, as well as further methods of monitoring costs.