Mercedes is open to Formula 1 returning to V8 engines, but Toto Wolff has warned the sport must not abandon electrification and risk looking ‘out of step’ with the real world.

Formula 1 last raced V8 engines in 2013, before switching to turbocharged hybrid V6s in a move that irked fans as the engine lost its intense guttural sound.

Toto Wolff warns Formula 1 on electrification risks amid V8 engine talks

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However, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem offered a glimmer of hope last week when he declared that V8 engines would return to the grid.

Formula 1 would have to wait until 2030, or even ’31, for the big change that fans and drivers want.

“It’s coming,” Ben Sulayem insisted as per RacingNews365.

“In 2031, the FIA will have the power to do it, without any votes from the PUMs [power unit manufacturers]. That’s the regulations.

“But we want to bring it one year earlier, which everyone [externally] now is asking for. When you try to tell them [the PUMs] they say no, but what will come, will come, and it [the power] will come back to the FIA.”

Asked for a timeline, he said: “I’m targeting 2030. One year before the maturity [of the regulations]. It will happen.”

He also revealed there would be minimal battery power involved in the next engine formula, “It will be with a very, very minor electrification, but the main one will be the engine. It will not be something like now, which is a 46-54 split. There will be very minimal [electric] power.”

But while fans celebrated Ben Sulayem’s vow, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff poured cold water over the idea of reducing the engine’s electrical power. After all, that’s not the world today with electric cars becoming more popular.

“I think from a Mercedes standpoint we are open to new engine regulations,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media in Miami. “We love V8s, that has only great memories. From our perspective it’s a pure Mercedes engine, it revs high.”

However, he reckons the sport cannot move forward solely on combustion power; it needs electrical energy.

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“How do we make it? How do we give it enough energy from the battery side to not lose connection to the real world? Because if we swing 100 per cent combustion, we might be looking a bit ridiculous in 2030 or 2031. So we need to consider that, make it simpler, and make it a mega-engine,” he continued.

“Maybe we can extract 800 horsepower off the ICE and put 400 on top of it, or more in terms of electric energy, we’re absolutely up for it.

“As long as those discussions happen in a structured way, people’s considerations are being taken on board. We recognise the financial realities of OEMs [Original Equipment Manufacturers] these days.

“We don’t have it easy, but if it’s well planned and executed, we Mercedes, count us in to come back with a real, real racing engine.”

V8s, though, won’t arrive earlier than 2030, or even 2031 as the current formula only expires in 2030, with Wolff ruling out big changes to the engines in the short-term.

He is, however, open to Formula 1 making further tweaks to the regulations with a call for greater Straight Line Mode boosts.

“Whoever talks about changing engine regs in the short term should question his or her way of assessing Formula 1 at that stage,” he said, highlighting Kimi Antonelli’s win in Miami, which saw four drivers lead the race.

“So spectacular race, fight for the lead, fights in the midfield. I think we were caught on the back foot more than others when it came to energy management and energy department. And it was splendid. There will be tracks that are more energy-starved, clearly, where we just need to make sure that’s understood.

“Can we tweak it and optimise it in the mid-term? I think absolutely. We would never be against making the show even better. I’m thinking about SM modes. I think we need much more straight-line speed with the SM modes. We need to be courageous on doing that.

“In the mid-term, we are not opposed. Whether we could extract a bit more performance out of the ICE, great, give us enough lead time so we can actually do it.”

Mercedes leads both championship after four rounds with Antonelli on top of the drivers’ log with 100 points to George Russell’s 80. Mercedes is 70 points clear of Ferrari in the Constructors’ standings.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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