F1 Champion Verstappen Cautious About Rumoured V10s Return
Mar.10 - Max Verstappen has questioned how seriously Formula 1 fans should be interpreting the latest rumours about the return of V10 engines to the grid.
Multiple authoritative figures - from F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to Toto Wolff, Christian Horner, Frederic Vasseur, Lewis Hamilton and beyond - have been pondering the idea in recent days.
It was Ben Sulayem's latest comments that really added fuel to the speculation, however, as he suggested that the advent of fully-sustainable fuel in F1 could make light, loud, crowd-pleasing V10s a realistic option for 2030.
"I think it's a very nice idea," quadruple world champion Verstappen told Viaplay at the weekend, "but the question is whether that's possible."
Indeed, F1 is actually doubling down on its hybrid 'power unit' era from 2026, with even heavier and more electrified engines than is the case today.
Verstappen wonders if Ben Sulayem is speaking out of turn.
"I think it's better not to shout so many things, and that it's better to solve these kinds of things behind the scenes," said the Dutchman. "That's better for everyone."
Verstappen and the FIA president have been at odds for months, particularly over the 'swearing ban' that cost the 27-year-old a day of community service in Rwanda last December.
In response, the Red Bull driver says he might do all of his swearing in Limburgish from now on.
"Yes, I can do that" Verstappen laughed. "I already did it often enough back in karting.
"These are all very silly things that I really don't want to deal with, but it is what it is."
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MBS is the one who started this whole speculation, but still unrealistic because V10s are simply too outdated & or relic to fit with the modern era, even with synthetic fuel.
The ICE to electric power ratio will be 50-50 & while the battery may be heavier, the PU as a whole mightn't necessarily be & in any case, all the areas that will reduce overall weight combined will have a greater impact than the battery size increase.
V10's are outdated because they're not being used in Motorsport, start using them again and they're no longer out of date...
Why not use them? They sound better, the manufacturers seem to care about fan experience and engagement more than technological relevance these days, the noise will brings more fans so what's the problem?
IF you want to build a hybrid race car for technical reasons go and do Le Mans where the regulations allow, or Formula e to test your electric stuff.
Formula 1 is now too popular to care about it's direct relevance to manufacturer road technology. We still race horses but nobody rides them to work anymore, why does it have to be road relevant?
I meant outdated technology-wise, meaning that car manufacturers are unlikely to desire a return to any past N/A powertrain concepts.
Wrc cars are, so it cant be that outdated
By WRC cars, I assume you mean pre-2022 primary category machinery unless you mean the current Rally1 machinery without hybrid system.
theyve dumped hybrid tech on wrc cars and have gone back to ice+turbo so this ice tech cant be outdated can it
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