Formula 1 cars will get more power from their internal combustion engines, and be less reliant on electrical energy under more regulations changes announced for 2027, which are aimed at fixing the artificial racing seen so far in 2026.
From next season, power units will be able to burn more fuel, giving them 50kW (67bhp) more output, and taking maximum power to around 400kW (536bhp).
At the same time, electrical power from the energy recovery system (ERS) will be cut by the same margin, capping it at 300kW (402bhp).
The 2026 rules were designed around a roughly 50/50 split between internal combustion engine (ICE) and ERS power, a dramatic increase in the electrical contribution compared to the previous hybrid formula.
In the 2025-spec power units, ERS contributed around 120kW of deployment power. The new regulations brought that figure to approximately 350kW, on a par with the combustion engine.
The intention was to future-proof the regulations and align Formula 1 with road car electrification trends. The consequence, which became apparent within the opening races of the season, was a car that was significantly harder to manage than its predecessor, with driver workload elevated; maximum power that could only be deployed for part of the lap; and a requirement to charge batteries in high-speed sections, where cars would slow dramatically.
The resulting speed differences caused a surge in unnatural overtaking and dangerous situations.
The energy split is set to change again next year
The first changes came quickly and were introduced ahead of the Miami Grand Prix to addressed the most urgent of those issues: capping the electrical energy deployed when drivers press the boost button for maximum power, and modifying super-clip behaviour in qualifying, where batteries are charged on full throttle, abruptly cutting acceleration.
The 2027 proposals take a further step by adjusting the fundamental architecture of the power unit itself.
What the 50kW shift means in practice
While 50kW is a modest increase compared to what it was before this year with a 80/20 split, it means that the current 50/50 split will move closer to 60/40 next season.
The agreed changes would see ICE power increase by around 50kW, as a result of increasing the fuel-flow rate, while ERS deployment drops by the same margin.
The increase in fuel flow might lead to cars needing bigger fuel tanks, although that remains unclear for now.
The total power output of the car remains nominally unchanged. What changes is the source.
That distinction matters to how the car behaves, as ICE power is linear and predictable; it responds to throttle position in a way drivers can feel and anticipate.
Drivers like Verstappen are likely to welcome the changes
Grand Prix Photo
ERS deployment, particularly at the levels permitted under the 2026 regulations, can arrive in large, sudden increments that are harder to modulate and more difficult for drivers to manage consistently, especially at the limit.
Reducing the ERS contribution means less of the car’s performance comes from a source that drivers have described as difficult to read and control.
More power from combustion means more of the car’s behaviour is governed by physics that drivers understand intuitively – throttle application, traction, mechanical feedback.
Several of the problems identified in the 2026 cars – the extreme closing speeds that contributed to the Oliver Bearman accident in Japan, the qualifying laps disrupted by harvesting phases, the erratic start behaviour – are downstream consequences of an ERS system that is simply too large relative to the rest of the car.
Four races into a new era that took years and hundreds of millions of pounds of power unit development, Formula 1 is already talking about the next one with V8 engines at its core
By
Pablo Elizalde
While the Miami package introduced mitigations, the 2027 proposals begin to address the underlying cause, even though the power unit architecture – agreed to remain in F1 until 2030, will still mean electric power has a much higher presence than in the previous era.
What still needs to be decided
The proposals agreed today are in principle only. Further technical discussion between teams and power unit manufacturers is required before a final package is submitted for a World Motor Sport Council e-vote.
The manufacturers in particular will need to agree, as the changes affect hardware and therefore involve development costs and timelines that differ between suppliers.
The fuel-flow increase is also consequential beyond the headline power figure.
Higher fuel flow has implications for fuel consumption over a race distance, which in turn affects strategy.
These details will be worked through in the technical groups before anything is formalised.
