Ferrari and Red Bull open for changes to the 2026 F1 engine regulations: Reports

F1 manufacturers Ferrari and Red Bull (including Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls) have opened their arms for a new change in the 2026 regulations. As per reports, the two aforementioned organizations agreed to have changes in the ratio of power output between the combustion engine and the electric motor.

F1's governing body, the FIA, announced a new set of regulations set to arrive in 2026 and last until 2030. The new regulations will unveil a competitive, agile and more sustainable car for the years to come.

Since the new regulations are about to unfold, the Constructors, especially the engine makers are doing everything to bring the regulations in their favor, such as Red Bull and Ferrari, while Mercedes are rooting for the opposite.

A meeting regarding this agenda took place on Thursday, April 24 where teams discussed the power output of the engines. The organizations with reservations want to keep the power output ratio at 55 to 45. This means they want to extract 400 kW power from the combustion engine and 350 kW from the electric motor.

While the above setup is for qualifying, the manufacturers want a different setup for the race. They want to extract 200 kW instead of 350 kW. They want the rest to be supplied by the 1.6 liter V6 engine to save batteries. However, manufacturers such as Mercedes do not support such ideas, whereas Audi and Honda refrained from taking any side for now.

The F1 manufacturers are divided into two lobbies, where one lobby believes that their opponents are opposing the idea because they could be behind in terms of hybrid development.

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Mercedes F1 boss shared his take on the current regulations agenda

Toto Wolff, Executive Director of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team at the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia - Source: Getty Images

Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff let his feelings known about the latest meeting agenda and termed the entire situation as "a joke." The Austrian, speaking about it ahead of Thursday's Formula 1 Commission meeting, said via Auto Motor Und Sport (translated from German):

"I actually wanted to protect ourselves and not comment on it at all. But this is really a joke. Just a week ago we had a meeting about the engines. And now these things are back on the agenda."

The final verdict on the new regulations is still to come out as the sport is gearing up to welcome multiple new entities to the sport. From 2026, Cadillac, F1's newest and 11th team will enter the grid, while Ford will join Red Bull, and Audi will rebrand as Sauber.

Honda, who supplied engines to Red Bull and its sister team Racing Bulls over the last few years, will join Aston Martin, while Renault dumped their own power trains to join hands with Mercedes.