F1 managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn stated that the championship will not abandon hybrid engines amid Sebastian Vettel’s comments.
Vettel drove Nigel Mansell’s FW14B car on sustainable fuel during the British GP race weekend earlier this season. After the run, the German suggested that F1 should ditch hybrid engines and use older engines on sustainable fuel.
“I love the cars. I love to have the sensation for the V10. For the history going forwards, I don’t know that’s a separate another discussion to have, what is the better way?
“What is the cheaper way as well? Because these [turbo hybrid] engines cost a fortune, their development costs a fortune up to this point.”
Brawn reacted to Vettel’s comments and dismissed the idea.
“I understand what he is saying,” he told Motorsport.com.
“I think we are keen that a number of OEMs supported the philosophy of a very efficient hybrid because there are other factors here: there is fuel consumption, the type of fuel we are running, the efficiency of the engines.
“Efficiency is still a big factor. So even if you are running fully sustainable fuels, you still want efficiency. So we’re sticking with a hybrid solution.
“It is appealing to the OEMs, the OEMs are putting their backing behind it and funding the research. I don’t think there is one OEM at the moment who would put money into a V10. That’s a different formula actually. It’s F2, not F1.”
