Motors 60:40 from 2027, it is a political battle. 4 votes needed: we try to convince Audi and Honda. Ferrari adamant on ‘no’.

Unanimity vanished At the beginning of May the International Federation issued a press release in which it made official that it had reached an agreement with FOM, teams and engine manufacturers for a significant intervention on the regulations in view of 2027. The increase in fuel flow, associated with a reduction in the power of the electric part would have brought the current ratio between internal combustion engine and electric motor from the current 54:46 to 60:40. A change also requested by the pilots, who had expressed a favorable opinion on the direction taken in the April meetings.
However, in the Montreal paddock it emerged that the unanimity evoked by the document had vanished. There were multiple reasons for dissatisfaction, from the teams who complained about problems of extra expenses caused by the design of larger tanks, up to engine engineers who did not want to redo the engine for budget cap reasons (Audi) and who considered this modification incompatible with the ADUO mechanism (Ferrari). Hence the idea of ​​a compromise, which would have substantially postponed the 60:40 to 2028, immediately meeting the harsh stance of drivers such as Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. 4 votes are needed among the 6 engine engineers. Carlos Sainz in particular had encouraged the FIA ​​and FOM to impose these changes: but the Federation and Liberty Media do not have this possibility, unless there are reasons regarding safety – which do not appear to exist at the moment.
To pass the 60:40 motion as early as 2027, the so-called ‘supermajority’ within the PUAC – the advisory committee of power unit manufacturers – is needed. The supermajority is obtained with 4 of the 6 votes at the table. At the moment only Mercedes and Red Bull are in favor.
Honda would be undecided and would be placed in the middle of the two factions.
Cadillac is adamant, as is Ferrari. And even Audi would have expressed a contrary opinion, although more open to dialogue.
The British on The Race have revealed various background details of the ongoing political battle. Why is Ferrari adamant about ‘no’? Ferrari does not intend to give its green light due to the ADUO mechanism. The liberalization of the development of power units in view of 2027 is seen as too favorable for the engine manufacturers already ahead – and it is no coincidence that Mercedes and Red Bull are in favor of ‘yes’. In fact, these engine engineers could already concentrate their efforts on the new 2027 power unit – given that they would have the green light to get involved – while Ferrari is still chasing 2026 with the improvements that the ADUO will guarantee – in all likelihood.
In this way Mercedes and Red Bull could even distance themselves further: for this reason Ferrari is firm on the postponement to 2028. Position shared with Cadillac. Pressure on Audi and Honda Time is running out for 2027 and indeed, we are probably already late to redesign the power units and machines for the proposed changes. We will have to decide quickly what to do. The FIA ​​is no longer aiming to obtain unanimity, but the simple supermajority of the PUAC.
Since there is already a yes from Mercedes and Red Bull, the positions to work on are those of Honda and Audi. The belief is gaining ground that with Audi’s approval, Honda would also side with the ‘yes’ side, thus breaking the deadlock.
Audi considers the tens of millions more that the redesign for 2027 would require to be excessive, hence the idea of ​​implementing a series of mechanisms to stay within the budget cap or evaluate in detail the changes required for the power unit, so as not to have to rethink it.
In this way Audi could say yes, on the understanding that the FIA ​​and F1 do not intend to further tweak the regulation in the coming years, to guarantee stability until 2031.
And Ferrari? The Race suggests that – should the hypothesis of political defeat be clearly aired – it would be wise to sit at the negotiating table for a compromise that can get Maranello something. Which would still be a better result than a complete defeat… Click here to add Formula Passion as your favorite source on Google Discover: you will find our content more easily!

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-05-26 20:11:00