{"id":685837,"date":"2026-05-21T20:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/685837\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T20:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:16:11","slug":"weve-lost-over-a-decade-of-pure-racing-fernando-alonso-hits-out-at-hybrid-f1-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/685837\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;We&#8217;ve lost over a decade of pure racing&#8217;: Fernando Alonso hits out at hybrid F1 era"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Double Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso has given a grim assessment of the series\u2019 hybrid era, claiming \u201cwe\u2019ve lost nearly one decade, or even more, of pure racing\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>F1\u2019s switch to V6 turbo-hybrid power units away from the naturally aspirated V8s drew criticism from fans at the time, while former series boss Bernie Ecclestone says he was \u201chorrified\u201d by the noise they made.<\/p>\n<p>Seen as a more road-relevant route, this way of thinking led F1 to its current power unit regulations, which feature a 50\/50 split between internal combustion and electrification.<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/xpb_648061_hires.jpg\"   type=\"image\/jpeg\" alt=\"F1 moved to electrification in 2014 with V6 turbo-hybrids\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>F1 moved to electrification in 2014 with V6 turbo-hybrids<\/p>\n<p> \u00a9\u00a0XPB Images<\/p>\n<p>These power units have been widely panned by fans and drivers, with several tweaks already made to the rules this season and more &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/f1\/news\/1094590\/1\/f1-set-agree-more-power-unit-tweaks-2027-and-2028\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">including a move to a 60\/40 split<\/a> &#8211; proposed for 2027.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>In recent weeks, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem caused a stir by claiming V8 engines with minimal electrification would be mandated from 2031.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe DNA of these power units will always be the same\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aston Martin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/f1\/racer\/1\/fernando-alonso\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fernando Alonso<\/a> doesn\u2019t believe the tweaks to a 60\/40 split from the power units in 2027 will fundamentally alter the characteristics of how they need to be driven.<\/p>\n<p>While this is hoped to quell most of the quirks related to the new power units, Alonso thinks they will \u201calways reward going slow\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWaiting [for the new cycle],\u201d he said when asked if the 60\/40 proposal was a good step.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe DNA of these power units will always be the same and will always reward going slow in the corners.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[So], I don\u2019t think so [that it\u2019s a step in the right direction].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/xpb_1409717_hires.jpg\"   type=\"image\/jpeg\" alt=\"Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 2026 Canada F1\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 2026 Canada F1<\/p>\n<p> \u00a9\u00a0XPB Images<\/p>\n<p>Asked if it was good that the FIA were at least listening to feedback on the new power units, if somewhat delayed, Alonso added: \u201cI mean, they always listen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[There was] the whirlwind of thought to go into the electrification.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was thought to be the future, and that doesn\u2019t apply to racing. Racing is a different animal.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow we go back to the 60\/40, and then in the future less and less.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, we have this period, from 2014 in the turbo era, and now even more, we\u2019ve lost nearly one decade, or even more, of pure racing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to our F1 Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Double Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso has given a grim assessment of the series\u2019 hybrid era, claiming&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":685838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[2495,64,63,845,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":["post-685837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-aston-martin","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685837","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=685837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/685838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}