Hybrid Era Debate

Will the naturally aspirated V8's and V10's ever return?

Unfortunately, the answer looks to be a no as FIA President Jean Todt and F1 sporting boss Ross Brawn have both weighed in on the matter, with negative responses, rather suggesting that the current V6 turbo hybrid engines can be developed to a level that we are yet to see.

This is in the hope that the cars will not only be faster than those of years gone by but also far more fuel efficient.

Working closely with aerodynamic engineers for direction of the chassis, the power units will be made to work in even more fluid harmony.

Brawn spoke recently on the matter: "However, we are thinking about the evolution of the hybrid engine."

In the same respect, Todt recently spoke with German News Agency 'SID' saying:

"Everybody's vision is to try to do better Formula One."

"We must think about new opportunities and innovations, and always look forward. But it is unthinkable to leave the hybrid engines -- the V10 and V12 of the past should stay in the past, even if it is unreasonable to spend money each year on new technologies..."

We have seen an evolution of over 3.5 seconds in lap-times since the hybrid era began in 2014. A lap comparison was recently created on YouTube showing the Mercedes AMG Petronas cars from 2014-2016 and then Kimi Raikkonen at testing in 2017, all at the Circuit de Cataluyna.

The progression of the V6 package so far has been fantastic and better than most F1 fans anticipated at it's inception, but how far can they go?

Only time will tell.