Christian Horner has given renewed hope for the return of V8 or V10 engines in Formula 1, as it looks towards using more sustainable fuels. The last time the championship used V10 engines was in 2006, before they were banned by the FIA. Teams then used V8's between 2007 and 2013, before the current 1.6 litre V6 hybrid engines were introduced in 2014. In 2026 F1 will utilise 'drop in' 100% sustainable fuels to meet the FIA's requirements for all championships to be carbon neutral by 2030. The Red Bull team boss commented on the return of Honda after they initially withdrew from F1 in 2020, due to their focus on moving away from combustion engines. "For me it demonstrates that the combustion engine isn't dead yet. That there's still life in combustion, because obviously when they withdrew it was because of electrification."
Horner: Push to sustainable fuels could bring back V8 or V10 engines
Currently F1 power units use 10% renewable fuel, but the switch to 100% is making combustion engines relevant again for car brands, according to Horner. "I think perhaps with sustainable fuels and zero emissions and the route that Formula 1 is going for 2026, combustion became relevant to them again, whereas it was something that was very much off their agenda," he explained. "So who knows? Maybe we'll get to back to V8 and V10s that are fully sustainable. Wouldn't that be fantastic."
Most read
