Domenicali believes the arrival of ‘sustainable’ fuels in 2026 will allow F1 to do away with hybrids and shift back to using conventional combustion engines in the future.
Synthetic fuels are not “climate-neutral” nor the solution to global warming but whatever 🙄
Edit: Synthetic fuels are not the solution because
- They are considered “carbon neutral” and not carbon free because they really just release carbon that was previously captured
- Creating them is much less energy efficient than simply powering electric cars
What’s the issue with being carbon neutral?
Because it’s more of a buzzword than a goal. Carbon neutral, in theory, means a company reduces their carbon output where they can and then reimburse the rest of the carbon they can’t reduce. In practice it means a company can literally do nothing to reduce their emissions, pay someone else to offset the carbon they refuse to reduce and then claim “we’re carbon neutral” while polluting with the same rate as they were before. Carbon neutral simply does not go far enough.
In this case it’s not “carbon neutral” as in carbon neutral if you subtract the credit that a carbon offset company gave us for using our giant pile of money to bribe someone not to burn down a bit of rainforest on the far side of the world. It’ll be genuinely carbon neutral. Unlike the rest of us, F1 can afford to use the finest pure synthetic fuel made from organic hand-picked potatoes with energy from 100% green electrons.
It may be only a small gesture compared to the vast enterprise of shipping so many tons of equipment and people all around the world, but it’s sort of cool nonetheless.
You’re mixing up carbon neutral fuels and carbon neutral companies. Your argument holds good for the second.
The hybrid systems aren’t just there to be “green”. It adds performance so I really don’t understand getting rid.
How much of this is to avoid stepping on the toes of Formula E? (I know people mention some kind of exclusivity arrangement but I’ve never seen the actual facts on that)
I’d also be interested to know how polluting these sustainable replacements for petrol are, I feel if they were a miracle fuel we’d already know about it!
I’m happy going back to high-revving non-hybrids.
I’m happy sticking to the hybrids we have now.
I’m not fine with 2026’s removal of the MGU-H, which just gives us what we have now only more compromised. The MGU-H is probably the most fascinating aspect of current F1 engines.
The MGU-H is probably the most fascinating aspect of current F1 engines.
This.
Technologically, the MGU-H is quite the marvel. I am sad that engine manufacturers have cried their way into getting it removed
Will the manufacturers be interested? Although I guess that a plain engine is much easier?
I doubt it will happen.
Maybe their (and our) 25-year run of pretending that gasoline-electric hybrids were an adequate way to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions is finally nearing its end.
A hydrogen engine (not fuel cells) could be better, best of both worlds.
