It was almost a decade ago that Formula 1’s turbo-hybrid era began. The move away from the 2.4-litre atmospheric V8s to the current 1.6-litre V6 turbo engines augmented by electric motors was, in its infancy, not entirely auspicious; complaints over a lack of noise were united with evident gulfs between each powertrain’s performance level. While many still yearn for a return to the ear-splitting V10 era, most have come to tolerate the modern-day soundscape of guttural roars rather than banshee-like screams, while performance levels have converged over the past nine and a bit years.
For 2026, the turbo-hybrid powerplants will enter their next generation. F1’s current formula will therefore have been in service for 12 full years, making them longer-lived than many of the more celebrated engine formula spans: including the 2006-13 V8s, the 1995-2005 three-litre V10 (plus occasional V8 and V12 interlopers) era, and the 1987-94 expansion of the naturally aspirated engines to 3.5 litres.
Similarities will remain with the projected new power
