Key details emerge about FIA's plans for F1's return to V10: Reports

F1's engine suppliers have reportedly called a meeting involving FIA's plans to return to the V10 engines in the near future. The sport will head into new engine regulations from the 2026 season, which will see a 50-50 split between the combustion engine and electrical energy generated from the battery.

The high production cost of the current Turbo-Hybrid engines, which were introduced in 2014, led to a lot of manufacturers staying away from the sport. Hence, to involve more brands like Audi and General Motors in F1, the FIA and the sport will bring new regulations.

As per The Race, the engine manufacturers will meet at the Bahrain Grand Prix next weekend to discuss the FIA's proposal of bringing back V10 engines with sustainable fuels. The meeting will aim to help the sport's governing body regarding the support from the engine manufacturers on the potential return to V10 engines.

There were even some rumors that the FIA might drop the upcoming engine regulations completely to get back to having V10 engines in the coming years. However, it would be difficult for them to get support for the proposal, given the investment made by manufacturers in developing new power units for the upcoming 2026 season.

Mercedes F1 team boss gives his honest opinion on V10 engines making a return

Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff stated that he believed that the talks of having V10 engines running on sustainable fuels were "premature."

Speaking at the Chinese Grand Prix, the Austrian said, via Motorsportweek:

"It's a bit premature, in my opinion, before we have even started with those engines, to bring up a possible future concept. In order to acknowledge the standing of F1 as the biggest global sport that attracts vast audiences and the best car companies in the world, we need to cheer for any such sustainable new concept for 2026."

Wolff also believed that scrapping the 2026 engine regulations to bring back V10s won't be the right solution given that they would not have enough Turbo-Hybrid engines for next year, adding:

“It’s impossible. I think simply by the sheer fact that we don’t have the hardware anymore. We don’t have the dynos, nor the batteries. None of that is existent. I think we could probably make an engine for us as a works team, but the rest is just simply impossible.

“As an engine manufacturer, we have long lead times to prepare for it, so that needs to be considered. And even if we were keen on doing things [supplying customers], there’s just some things that are simply impossible.”

Mercedes supplies engines to almost half the F1 grid to teams like Williams, Aston Martin, and McLaren and will supply to Alpine in 2026 as Aston Martin moves to Honda-powered engines.