Formula E chief Jeff Dodds says Formula 1\u2019s growing desire to return to V8 engines is ultimately good news for the all-electric championship.<\/p>\n
The debate over Formula 1\u2019s future engine direction has intensified after just a handful of races under the new 2026 regulations, which increased the electric component of the power units to 50 percent.<\/p>\n
The criticism has been led by drivers including Max Verstappen, who famously compared the new generation of Formula 1 cars to “Formula E on steroids”.<\/p>\n
Ironically, however, Formula E\u2019s reputation has improved significantly in the same period, with anticipation building for the arrival of the championship\u2019s much faster Gen4 car.<\/p>\n
Dodds, who previously responded to Verstappen\u2019s comments by inviting the Dutchman to test a Formula E machine, believes Formula 1 has now recognised that the current direction has not worked as intended.<\/p>\n
“First of all, we have to give them credit, because they have listened and realised that things aren\u2019t going as they expected, so they are making changes,” Dodds told Soy Motor.<\/p>\n
“Any company has the ability to respond and react to feedback and face challenges, and I think we have to acknowledge that great merit.”<\/p>\n
The Briton suggested many observers had seen the problems coming.<\/p>\n
“I think perhaps it wasn\u2019t a surprise, or shouldn\u2019t be, that it was going to be difficult,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It may not have turned out exactly as they expected, but I think many of us anticipated that this could happen.”<\/p>\n
Dodds believes a return to a more combustion-focused Formula 1 would actually strengthen Formula E\u2019s position.<\/p>\n
“The only thing I would say is that their making the change is good for us, because they are a combustion championship and we are an electric championship,” he explained.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s very easy to understand.”<\/p>\n
However, he warned that fans hoping for screaming V8 engines will need patience. “2030, 2031 is a long way off,” said Dodds.<\/p>\n
“If you\u2019re an F1 driver and you\u2019re excited about going back to V8s, you have to be excited for the next three or four years, because that\u2019s how long it\u2019s going to take to get back there.”<\/p>\n
“So it will seem like a long time.”<\/p>\n
The comments come as support for V8 engines continues to grow across the paddock, with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali both backing the idea.<\/p>\n
Not everyone thinks Formula 1 can afford to wait.<\/p>\n
Veteran Swiss journalist Roger Benoit, one of the sport\u2019s last remaining old-school reporters, says the current regulations have been a total failure.<\/p>\n
“For me, this has been a disaster so far,” he told Sport1.<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s an old saying – the simpler the rules, the better the sport. That applies to football just as much as to Formula 1.”<\/p>\n
“Anyone who constantly tinkers with the regulations will eventually run into problems.”<\/p>\n
Benoit added: “I\u2019m extremely critical of this whole energy management system. Max Verstappen was right from the start with his criticism.”<\/p>\n
“The mere fact that it\u2019s still being discussed so much shows that something is fundamentally wrong.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Formula E chief Jeff Dodds says Formula 1\u2019s growing desire to return to V8 engines is ultimately good…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-709949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}