The FIA mistake that means F1 engines could be like 'camels'

Cadillac chief and F1 legend Pat Symonds has warned that the 2026 power units might be like a 'camel', because of a key mistake he believes the FIA have made.

Symonds previously worked for F1 as the chief technical officer, but in May 2024 he opted to become executive engineering consultant for the new F1 team, now known to be Cadillac and joining the F1 grid in 2026.

The Brit has worked with a number of teams in the past, including Renault, Benetton and Williams, and is well respected in the sport as an engineering legend.

Ahead of Cadillac's first season in F1, however, Symonds has been very critical of new power unit regulations that are sweeping into F1 from next season onwards.

The new power units will feature a greater emphasis on electrical energy, while still being hybrids that can run off 100 per cent sustainable fuels. The drivers will have more responsibility to look after the battery over the course of a lap, while there is a new 'overtake' mode designed to replace DRS.

But Symonds believes that the FIA's failure to rule with a firm hand over the 11 teams on the F1 grid may just have created what he describes as a 'camel' rather than a 'racehorse.'

"When we did the 2022 car we listened to what the teams were saying, but we ruled them with a firm hand," Symonds told Autocar. "We said, ‘okay, we’re listening to you, but we’re actually going to do this’. So we took some of their input.

"We knew that each one of them had an agenda. This is the advantage of [me] spending so many years as a competitor. So we were quite rigid in what we wanted.

"With the ’26 power unit, the FIA said it wanted to involve the manufacturers more. Unfortunately, I think it’s like when you get a committee to design a racehorse, you end up with a camel."

Who are the F1 power unit manufacturers for 2026?

There's a lot of change in 2026, and that includes in the power unit manufacturers that certain teams will be using.

Cadillac are joining the grid using Ferrari power units initially, before their partnership with General Motors comes into play in 2028.

Ferrari will also supply Haas and, of course, the Ferrari works team, while Mercedes will supply themselves, Williams, McLaren and Alpine, with Renault dropping out of the sport altogether.

Red Bull have dropped their partnership with Honda and are instead creating their own power units in conjunction with Ford, and those will supply the main Red Bull team and Racing Bulls.

Elsewhere, Honda are supplying Aston Martin with power units, and Audi are joining the sport, supplying the newly-named Audi Revolut F1 Team.

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton warned 2026 F1 season could be 'his last'

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