The FIA’s single-seaters director Nikolas Tombazis says Formula 1 “cannot be hostage” to manufacturers and in effect allow them to dictate what the power unit regulations should be.

When the 2026 PU regulations were agreed there was a strong push for electrification across the motor industry, which is why there was a move towards a 50/50 split between the ICE and the electrical component provided by the MGU-K.

The change from the previous hybrid rules set was also pursued in large part to accommodate Audi, while Honda confirmed its official return on the basis of the changes.

The new power units have clearly not been as successful as had been hoped, and discussions are already underway on the next rules set, which in theory won’t come into force until 2031.

Smaller tweaks have already been made, which will come into effect from this weekend's Miami Grand Prix onwards.

There is now some momentum behind a return to a V8, with a focus on sustainable fuel as a nod to road relevance.

Tombazis acknowledged that there is now less momentum behind electrification, potentially leaving the door open for F1 to focus on a combustion engine once again.

“Well first of all, it is true, the political landscape has changed,” he said on Monday.

“And back when we discussed the current regulations, the automotive companies, who were very involved, told us that they're never going to make another internal combustion engine again – a new one.

“They were going to phase out, and by whatever year, they were going to be fully electrical, for example. Obviously, this hasn't happened. That's not to underestimate the importance of electrification globally, but it didn't happen as much, as I said.

"Secondly, I think one of the not frequently discussed stories, because it's not something visible, is that, of course, we did go for fully sustainable fuels, and I think, a reasonably good outcome.”

New rules must be discussed "soon"

He stressed that F1 rules cannot be shaped by the wishes of the manufacturers who can come and go from the series.

"So in terms of where we want to be in the future, we do need to protect the sport from the world macro-economic situation,” he said. “Meaning we cannot be hostage to automotive companies deciding to be part of our sport or not.

“We want them to be part of our sport, absolutely. That's why we've worked so hard to secure new ones to participate.

“But we can also not be in a position where, if they decide they don't want to be, we're suddenly left vulnerable. And we need to keep working for cost reduction.”

Tombazis stressed that it’s no surprise that there is already talk about what the future rules should be, given the lead times involved.

“If we are to change anything for the next cycle, we need to start discussing it very soon,” he said. “Because the time it takes to make a power unit and an engine and all that is quite long.

“So yes, it may sound a bit strange to be discussing these matters only a few races after we've started, but that is the natural cycle of the discussion when it needs to take place.”

Tombazis said he had no concerns about a return to loud combustion engines, given that a new generation of fans who have come to F1 since the final season of V8s in 2013 are not used to them.

"No, to be honest,” he said. “It's always easy, if possible, to reduce noise if you have too much. The opposite is more of a tricky one, to increase if you have too little.

“So I think that when we have previous cars running occasionally in grand prix on Sunday morning, early or whatever they do, provoke a certain level of feeling amongst a lot of people, and I don't think that will be a problem.”