Motorsport: Where does F1 go with power units?

Valtteri Bottas leads the field during the Formula One Grand Prix of Russia. Photo / Getty Images

The fickle finger of Formula 1 fate is slowly but surely turning it's attention to the philosophy of power units.

Although this time the finger may also determine the future, possibly even the survival, of Formula 1 itself.

The major car manufacturers are edging ever more determinedly towards ecologically friendly power units and inevitably that direction seems to be heading down the road of electric powered vehicles.

No matter that the very process of supplying that electricity in most countries of the world is in itself ecologically damaging with oil and coal fired power stations belching nitrogen oxide compounds into the atmosphere in the quest to produce 'clean' electricity.

New Zealand, with it's abundant supply of renewable energy sources, is one of the few countries in the world where electric vehicles actually make some sense from a pollution point of view.

So, does Formula 1 follow this trend and continue to try and be at the forefront of new power unit technology or does the sport have to accept the fact that by doing that it will become too costly, too complicated, far too complex and inevitably operate at the behest of the few manufacturers who think the vast sums of money needed to compete are worth it?

The power units in the Formula 1 of today, introduced at the behest of the FIA and it's President Jean Todd in 2014, seemed to be a good idea at the time when the rules were agreed in 2011. They were the culmination of the FIA's wish, to attract more car makers to the sport and that, with the exception of Honda with all it's woes and failures, has simply not happened.

What has happened is a major move to the all-electric Formula E by those very manufacturers that Formula 1, the FIA, expected to rush in. Audi, Jaguar, Mahindra, BMW and Renault are on the entry for 2018 with the Andretti and Penske organisations involved and Mercedes still considering their future with the Formula.

As much as I can see the future of Formula E being rosy and pushing all the boundaries of technological battery development with Lithium-air (not ion), photosynthesis charging, nanowire batteries, fuel cells and a hundred other developments, I revert to being a dinosaur, or perhaps more relevantly here, a fossil, when I say that electric or autonomous cars are not, to me, racing cars as I determine them to be. Exciting in a futuristic sense with some very talented drivers but certainly not my vision of Formula 1.

With the experience of Honda, still struggling for reliability, let alone performance, spending vast sums of money and seemingly going nowhere, is it any wonder that other makers who may have considered joining Formula 1 have gracefully declined the opportunity?

It is time for Formula 1 to concede that following the rapidly changing horizon of power unit development is now such a moving target as to be beyond it's capabilities and will ultimately do harm to what the Formula essentially stands for. Simply 'racing' at the very top level.

Otherwise where does the sport go? Follow the trend to autonomous, driverless cars with lane changing sensors and powered by electric motors getting their energy from under-road wires? Sounds like a good idea except I think a company named 'Scalextric' got there first.

With the cost of the current power units crippling the smaller F1 teams there is a desperate need to revert to a simpler approach for introduction in 2021, after the expiry in 2020 of the current power unit agreement. There will always be those who insist that the Formula is being wasteful and damaging to the environment by burning fuel. I understand that. There must be, however, a balance between the survival of the sport at the top level and an understanding that it must also be seen as making some effort to add to the international consciousness of efficiency of power use.

It matters not that a single return trip to Europe by plane to attend a conference on greenhouse gasses or air pollution uses more fossil fuel than all the Formula 1 cars in a season, or two or more, but the sport has to be seen to be making an effort.

So surely the solution is already there with a combination of existing technologies and practices.

By using a much simplified engine unit, with the regulations set for 10 or more years, and harvesting power for a battery from the energy recovery systems on brakes and allowing that form of comparatively every day technology to develop, would bring Formula 1 cars broadly into line with almost every Hybrid on the roads today from Toyota to Mercedes.

With a Formula 1 car producing more drag than a typical truck (approximately 1.0Cd for an F1 car to 0.6Cd for the truck and 0.24Cd for a Toyota Prius) then take away, by regulation, much of the down force. That would not only improve the aerodynamic efficiency but improve the overtaking and racing while still giving the engineers some elbow room to develop.

Then allow, for the first season, 100kgs of fuel to be used per car in the race, as now.
Two years later reduce that amount to 90kgs, then over two year periods reduce the amount further down to some 50kgs or less.

I am sure the clever engineers in the sport would be more than capable of achieving that.

Whatever the solution, there must be one and that solution needs to be found very soon indeed.