{"id":655186,"date":"2026-05-07T09:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/655186\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T09:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:10:09","slug":"formula-1-boss-mohammed-ben-sulayem-confirms-return-to-v8-engines-from-2030-amid-criticism-of-new-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/655186\/","title":{"rendered":"Formula 1 boss Mohammed Ben Sulayem confirms return to V8 engines from 2030 amid criticism of new regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Formula 1 will return to the use of V8 engines and could do so earlier than expected, according to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.<\/p>\n

The V8 was ditched in 2014 in place of the V6 \u2014 and has continued to be used in 2026, albeit with a 50\/50 split between combustion and electrical power.<\/p>\n

Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship\u2122 LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

This season\u2019s engines have been criticised by fans and drivers \u2014 with four-time champion Max Verstappen likening the style of racing to \u201cMario Kart\u201d.<\/p>\n

And while small changes were made prior to last weekend\u2019s Miami Grand Prix, many of the drivers are calling for more radical alterations.<\/p>\n

Ben Sulayem, chief of the FIA, the governing body for world motorsport, has now revealed one major move that will take place in the coming years is the long-awaited return to V8 engines.<\/p>\n

This can be done unopposed by the FIA in 2031 \u2014 but could also happen as early as 2030 if the power unit manufacturers vote for it.<\/p>\n

As reported by RacingNews365<\/a>, Ben Sulayem said: \u201cIt\u2019s coming (the switch back to V8 engines).<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2031, the FIA will have the power to do it, without any votes from the PUMs [power unit manufacturers]. That\u2019s the regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we want to bring it one year earlier, which everyone [externally] now is asking for. When you try to tell them [the PUMs] they say no, but what will come, will come, and it [the power] will come back to the FIA.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m targeting 2030. One year before the maturity [of the regulations]. It will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Oscar<\/p>\n

Ben Sulayem, who has ruled out a return to a V10 era, claims the power unit manufactures are keen on the V8 engines returning to the sport, meaning we could see the radical switch 12 months sooner than expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey (the power unit manufactures) want it to happen,\u201d he added. \u201cBut, let\u2019s say the manufacturers don\u2019t [vote for it], then one more year and it will be done. It\u2019s not a matter of, \u2018Do I need their support?\u2019 No, it will be done. V8 is coming.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s not talk about the technical side of it, let\u2019s talk about the mission of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mission will be less complication, not like now. When the MGU-H was there before, it was there to serve a purpose, but none of the manufacturers benefited from it in the real world.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, with just the MGU-K, it\u2019s the same engine. It\u2019s turbo, it\u2019s 1.6 litre.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2026 F1 season is four races deep, with Kimi Antonelli claiming his third successive win in Miami.<\/p>\n

Next up is the Canadian Grand Prix on May 25 (AEST), before the paddock moves to Europe for the famous Monaco GP in June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Formula 1 will return to the use of V8 engines and could do so earlier than expected, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":["post-655186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655186","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=655186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}