Formula 1 looks at 3.0 L V8 turbos and smaller hybrids for 2030
Formula 1 looks at 3.0 L V8 turbos and smaller hybrids for 2030
一级方程式赛车考虑在 2030 年采用 3.0 升 V8 涡轮增压引擎及小型混合动力系统
We’re not even a full year into the new regulations, and Formula 1 is already thinking hard about its next iteration, set to be introduced as early as the start of 2030. This was supposed to be a big year for F1, with the introduction of a bold new technical rules package that puts far more emphasis on the electric side of the cars’ hybrid power units than before. But those rules were perhaps too ambitious for 2026, with batteries that can only power the electric motor for a tiny fraction of a lap. Such was the shock of getting it wrong that F1 may fast-track a fix for 2030 rather than 2031, when the next set of rules is currently set to start. And according to a report in Autosport, there is now some agreement on what those power units will look like.
新规实施还不到一年，一级方程式赛车（F1）就已经在认真思考下一阶段的迭代，预计最早将于 2030 年初推出。本应是 F1 的重要一年，因为引入了一套大胆的新技术规则，比以往更加强调赛车混合动力单元的电气化部分。但这些规则对于 2026 年来说或许过于激进，因为电池只能为电动机提供极短时间的动力。由于对这一失误感到震惊，F1 可能会加快修复进度，将时间表从原定的 2031 年提前至 2030 年。据《Autosport》报道，目前各方已就这些动力单元的形态达成了一定共识。
Where are we now? The current rules were finalized several years ago, when optimism about electrification among automakers was high. F1 wanted more of those automakers, and automakers wanted more electrification. The sport would give it to them with a near 50:50 split between a small 1.6 L V6 turbo and an electric motor, both driving the rear wheels. The idea worked. Audi, Cadillac, and Ford have all signed up since, joining Mercedes, Ferrari, and Honda, which recommitted after pulling out in 2021.
现状如何？现行规则是在几年前制定的，当时汽车制造商对电气化充满乐观。F1 希望吸引更多车企，而车企则希望加强电气化。这项运动通过 1.6 升 V6 涡轮增压引擎与电动机近乎 50:50 的动力分配（两者均驱动后轮）满足了这一需求。这一构想奏效了。自那时起，奥迪、凯迪拉克和福特纷纷加入，与梅赛德斯、法拉利以及在 2021 年退出后重新回归的本田并肩作战。
But an F1 car is of limited size, and energy density is such that the 4 MJ (1.1 kWh) battery can last maybe 11 or 12 seconds at full throttle. Meanwhile, even the shortest lap time recorded in 2026, during qualifying in Austria, took George Russell 1 minute and 6.113 seconds from start to finish. So one can see the issue. Even allowing for regenerating energy under braking, many of F1’s most classic venues lack sufficient brake zones to recharge more than a fraction of the energy demand of an entire lap. Adding a front electric motor would have made the cars more efficient and allowed them to recapture more energy under braking. But the existing power unit manufacturers allegedly feared new entrant Audi’s expertise with all-wheel drive hybrids and blocked the idea.
然而，F1 赛车的尺寸有限，能量密度决定了其 4 MJ（1.1 kWh）的电池在全油门状态下仅能维持 11 到 12 秒。与此同时，2026 年奥地利站排位赛中记录的最短单圈时间，乔治·拉塞尔也跑了 1 分 06.113 秒。因此，问题显而易见。即使考虑到制动能量回收，F1 许多经典赛道也缺乏足够的制动区来补充整圈所需能量的一小部分。增加前置电动机本可以提高赛车效率，并允许在制动时回收更多能量。但据称，现有的动力单元制造商担心新加入的奥迪在全轮驱动混合动力方面的专业技术，从而否决了这一想法。
Regenerative braking isn’t the only way to recharge an F1 car’s battery, though. The electric motor can also act as a generator, siphoning power from the V6 to charge the battery—this is called “super clipping.” But any power going to the electric motor is power that isn’t going to the rear wheels. So sometimes an F1 car will have 1,005 hp (750 KW) and sometimes 536 hp (400 kW) if the battery is empty and only the V6 is powering the car. It sometimes has even less if it’s super clipping, where up to 335 hp (250 KW) is diverted to the electric motor instead of the rear wheels. And most of that is out of the driver’s control.
不过，制动能量回收并非为 F1 赛车电池充电的唯一途径。电动机也可以作为发电机，从 V6 引擎中汲取动力为电池充电——这被称为“超级剪辑”（super clipping）。但任何流向电动机的动力都不会传递到后轮。因此，F1 赛车有时拥有 1005 马力（750 kW），而当电池耗尽仅靠 V6 引擎驱动时，动力会降至 536 马力（400 kW）。如果处于“超级剪辑”状态，动力甚至会更低，因为高达 335 马力（250 kW）的功率被分流到了电动机而非后轮。而且，大部分过程超出了车手的控制范围。
Instead, complex and somewhat opaque algorithms are in charge, and they are supremely sensitive to driving style. More than a few times this season, we’ve seen a driver crash after a sudden torque spike they weren’t expecting. The varying power outputs created some alarming speed differentials on track, and the sport’s organizers have tweaked the energy deployment rules somewhat for qualifying to ameliorate the problem. However, the fix has slowed the cars even more during the one part of the weekend they’re supposed to be completely flat-out.
相反，这一切由复杂且有些不透明的算法控制，且这些算法对驾驶风格极其敏感。本赛季我们不止一次看到车手因意想不到的扭矩激增而发生碰撞。不稳定的动力输出在赛道上造成了令人担忧的速度差，赛事组织者为此调整了排位赛的能量部署规则以缓解这一问题。然而，这一补救措施反而让赛车在周末本应全力冲刺的环节中变得更慢了。
Where do we go from here? Next year, the V6 is being turned up to 563 hp (420 kW), while the electric motor will be turned down from 469 hp (350 kW) to 402 hp (300 kW), except in boost mode. But making the engine more powerful means making it thirstier. Unfortunately, asking teams to redesign their cars for next year to include larger fuel tanks would be prohibitively expensive for most under the current $215 million annual cost cap and would also make the cars even larger and heavier. So this week, the F1 Commission approved a plan to shorten races next year, from 190 miles (305 km) to 180 miles (290 km). In 2028, the power units will be rebalanced again to achieve a 60:40 split. But by 2031 at the latest, it will all change again.
未来何去何从？明年，V6 引擎的功率将提升至 563 马力（420 kW），而电动机的功率将从 469 马力（350 kW）下调至 402 马力（300 kW）（增压模式除外）。但引擎动力增强意味着油耗增加。遗憾的是，在当前 2.15 亿美元的年度成本上限下，要求车队为明年重新设计赛车以容纳更大的油箱对大多数车队来说过于昂贵，且会使赛车变得更大更重。因此，本周 F1 委员会批准了一项计划，将明年的比赛距离从 190 英里（305 公里）缩短至 180 英里（290 公里）。2028 年，动力单元将再次平衡，实现 60:40 的分配比例。但最迟到 2031 年，一切都将再次改变。
The sport’s stakeholders—the FIA (which is in charge of the rules), FOM (in charge of the commercial rights), the teams, and the engine manufacturers—have come to a preliminary agreement. Instead of 1.6 L V6 turbos, the engines will be 3.0 L V8s, still with turbochargers. Despite a desire by some fans (and perhaps the FIA president) to bring back screaming naturally aspirated engines, it was specifically the noise that rules them out, as many of the new street circuits F1 races on have noise restrictions that would be obliterated by cars that were as loud as they were in the early 2000s. Retaining a turbo allows F1 to claim more road relevance than a naturally aspirated engine might. So, too, does sticking with a hybrid system, but one that will be seriously downsized.
这项运动的利益相关者——国际汽联（负责规则）、FOM（负责商业权利）、车队和引擎制造商——已经达成初步协议。引擎将不再是 1.6 升 V6 涡轮增压，而是 3.0 升 V8 涡轮增压。尽管一些车迷（或许还有国际汽联主席）希望带回咆哮的自然吸气引擎，但正是噪音问题将其排除在外，因为 F1 举办的许多新街道赛道都有噪音限制，而 21 世纪初那种高分贝的赛车会严重违规。保留涡轮增压器使 F1 比自然吸气引擎更具公路相关性。坚持使用混合动力系统也是如此，但该系统将大幅缩减规模。
Although Autosport did not provide a proposed output for the V8, we might expect just 134 hp (100 kW) of electric assist for the next generation of F1 car. There’s also no mention of whether the turbocharger will be part of the hybrid system, as it was from 2014 to 2025. Electric turbochargers are now appearing on some road cars; F1 dropped the tech in 2026 on cost and complexity grounds, with the trade-off of reintroducing turbo lag as something drivers have to anticipate. Gratifyingly, the next F1 power units should help reverse the trend of the past two decades, which saw a car’s minimum weight (including the driver) rocket from 1,322 lbs (605 kg) in 2006 to 1,763 lbs (800 kg) in 2025 before coming down to 1,693 lbs (768 kg) for this year. The agreement says the new power units should be at least 110 lbs (50 kg) lighter than the current 408-lb (185-kg) minimum, which includes the internal combustion engine, electric motor-generator unit, turbocharger, battery pack, control electronics, and exhausts. Some form of in-race boost is apparently still under discussion, with a preference for a limit.
虽然《Autosport》没有提供 V8 引擎的预期输出功率，但我们预计下一代 F1 赛车的电辅助功率仅为 134 马力（100 kW）。文中也未提及涡轮增压器是否会像 2014 年至 2025 年那样成为混合动力系统的一部分。电动涡轮增压器目前已出现在一些公路车上；F1 在 2026 年因成本和复杂性原因放弃了该技术，代价是重新引入了车手必须预判的涡轮迟滞。令人欣慰的是，下一代 F1 动力单元有望扭转过去二十年的趋势——赛车最低重量（含车手）从 2006 年的 1322 磅（605 公斤）飙升至 2025 年的 1763 磅（800 公斤），今年降至 1693 磅（768 公斤）。协议称，新的动力单元应比目前 408 磅（185 公斤）的最低重量至少轻 110 磅（50 公斤），该重量包括内燃机、电动机-发电机组、涡轮增压器、电池组、控制电子设备和排气系统。目前似乎仍在讨论某种形式的比赛中增压方案，倾向于设定限制。