F1 could bring back a 'screaming V8' and this is how

Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

F1 could bring back a 'screaming V8' and this is how

Superclipping could be gone sooner rather than later

Chris Deeley

Monday 6 April 2026 16:54

What if F1 sounded amazing again?

No, but really. There's scarcely a clip from the sport's archives – and you don't even have to go very far back into the archives for this to be true – in which the roar of the engine doesn't make the hairs on the back of your neck start to stand up in a way that the modern power units just can't replicate.

Instead, we're treated to the sickly whine of a V6 hybrid engine 'superclipping', and bleeding off speed for the sake of getting a little electric boost later. Thank you F1, you've saved us from having fun again.

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Everybody knows at this point that the current setup is more about management than mashing the pedal on the right until you can feel the sound of the engine shaking every part of your body, until you have to jump on the brakes and throw your car into the corner as fast as your screeching tyres will allow. You know, motor racing.

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V8s look set for a comeback

There is some good news on the horizon though. There's a chance that the hybrid era of F1 is over, or close to it, before Kimi Antonelli hits the second half of his 20s.

It doesn't seem to be a knee-jerk reaction to the disastrous introduction of the 2026 regulations, either. This appears to be an idea that's been tinkered with for some time behind the scenes, which still has some way to go before it's fully beaten into shape.

A recent AMuS report says that while it's theoretically possible for the sport to return to the glory days of high-pitched screaming naturally aspirated engines, with CO₂-neutral fuels meaning that the hybrid system was no longer necessary for sustainability reasons, it'll be tricky to push that through.

What's more likely is a return to a turbo era, with most cars that manufacturers make for the general public also featuring a turbocharger.

Even in that scenario though, it's probably the end of the V6, made mandatory in 2014. The German site reports that a 2.4-litre V8 turbo is the most likely option, with other reports broadly concurring.

However, those V8s might still have some hybrid component. Why? Well, Honda and Audi have come back to/into the sport respectively for the 2026 season, and have built their whole F1 plan around...hybrid power units. It might then be tricky to convince them that, by the next planned regulation changes in 2031, they should actually scrap all that and invest heavily in something completely different.

The biggest hint so far? F1 supremo Stefano Domenicali telling The Race last year: "Sustainable fuel, [and a] V8, I think is great. And hybridisation is, I do believe, the next step of the future."

Whatever the case, there's one thing that isn't in doubt. F1 with V8 engines will sound a hell of a lot better than what we've got going on now.