{"id":389739,"date":"2026-01-03T21:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T21:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/389739\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T21:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T21:24:14","slug":"ex-f1-technical-chief-criticises-fia-over-2026-engine-formula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/389739\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-F1 technical chief criticises FIA over 2026 engine formula"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Cadillac Executive Engineering Consultant Pat Symonds has contended that the FIA\u2019s compromises have turned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsportweek.com\/series\/single-seater\/formula-1\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Formula 1<\/a>\u2018s new power units into a \u201ccamel\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>Symonds had input into the engines that will debut in 2026 before leaving his technical role with F1 to advise Cadillac as it debuts as the sport\u2019s 11th team.<\/p>\n<p>The Briton, who played an instrumental role in shaping the 2022 chassis regulations, admitted that frustration at the FIA\u2019s greater control influenced his call.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a little bit of the frustration that Formula One Management were getting less and less involved in the regulations, very much the FIA and things like the \u201926 power unit was not what I wanted it to be,\u201d Symonds explained.<\/p>\n<p>According to Symonds, the FIA made too many concessions to teams when finalising the 2026 power units, which will comprise nearly 50 per cent electrical power.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we did the 2022 car we listened to what the teams were saying, but we ruled them with a firm hand,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe said, \u2018Okay, we\u2019re listening to you, but we\u2019re actually going to do this\u2019. We took some of their input.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Symonds highlighted that his previous experience as a former team member helped guide that approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe knew that each one of them had an agenda,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the advantage of [me] spending so many years as a competitor. So we were quite rigid in what we wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Pat-Symonds-Cadillac-F1-1024x576.webp.webp\" alt=\"Pat Symonds has officially started work with the Cadillac F1 team\" class=\"wp-image-192731\"  \/>Pat Symonds is advising Cadillac\u2019s F1 venture<\/p>\n<p>Symonds explains gripe with new 2026 F1 power units<\/p>\n<p>Symonds has argued that rigidity was missing when it came to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.formula1.com\/en\/racing\/2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2026<\/a> engines. As a result, he feels the final package falls short.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo I wouldn\u2019t say that the \u201926 power units ended up the way I wanted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>A major issue, in his view, was the removal of the MGU-H. The decision aimed to simplify the engines and attract new manufacturers.<\/p>\n<p>The removal did help draw new names to the grid, with Audi taking over the Sauber team and Ford collaborating with Red Bull Powertrains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the \u201926 power unit, the FIA said it wanted to involve the manufacturers more,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, I think it\u2019s like when you get a committee to design a racehorse, you end up with a camel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He continued: \u201cI think that\u2019s happened a little bit, because one of the briefs for the \u201926 engine was to remove the MGU-H, because that was something that certainly improved the efficiency of the engines massively, but it was quite complex.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was decided to remove that really to try and encourage new manufacturers into the sport, which in some way was successful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFord came in, Audi came in, we\u2019ve got Cadillac come in. Porsche almost came in, they sort of faltered at the last minute.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, Symonds believes the lost energy recovery should have been replaced via the front axle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut once you remove that energy source\u2026 the idea was to replace it with recovering energy from the front axle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you did that, everything balanced out quite nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That proposal was dropped amid opposition from one team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut unfortunately\u2026 one team was very much against front axle recovery,\u201d Symonds divulged.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the president of the FIA at the time, Jean Todt, thought we were talking about four-wheel-drive, which we weren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The outcome, Symonds says, is an energy-limited power unit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, because of this sort of very democratic approach\u2026 we\u2019ve ended up with this camel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve ended up with a power unit that\u2019s sparse on energy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite his concerns over the engines, Symonds remains positive about other areas of the 2026 rules.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[But] the chassis, the aerodynamics, I think they\u2019re pretty good, the active aero is a good step forward, I think,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsportweek.com\/2026\/01\/02\/multiple-f1-teams-unveil-new-rebrands-for-2026-f1-season\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Multiple F1 teams unveil new rebrands for 2026 F1 season<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cadillac Executive Engineering Consultant Pat Symonds has contended that the FIA\u2019s compromises have turned Formula 1\u2018s new power&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,817,837,806,805,803,804,85,208730],"class_list":{"0":"post-389739","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-fia","12":"tag-motor","13":"tag-motor-sports","14":"tag-motosport","15":"tag-motosports","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-symonds"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}