Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali says that the sport will never adopt electric powertrains and will stick with internal combustion engines well into the future.
While plans to transition the sport to electric powertrains have never been announced, many thought that the switch would be inevitable, particularly given the broader motoring industry’s commitment to kill ICEs and replace them with battery-electric powertrains. However, while speaking with Italian publication II Sole 24 Ore, Domenicali said this won’t happen.
“We will never go electric,” Domenicali confirmed bluntly. Key to making the sport clean will not be electric powertrains but rather a clean, zero-emissions synthetic fuel that’s currently in development and will be used from the 2026 season onwards, he added.
“It is a fuel that can also be used for planes and ships,” Domenicali added. “Zero emissions can be achieved without having to change engines or throw away the entire fleet of vehicles that already exists.”
Speaking on the automotive industry more broadly, Domenicali said that electric powertrains are not the only solution, largely mirroring the view of Toyota’s outspoken and outgoing chief executive, Akio Toyoda.
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“Politics is not behaving correctly because it sets impossible goals,” he said. “And above all in an ideological way: the electric has become an indisputable dogma. [It is wrong to think] “there is only one way of energy transition. “How can a pensioner be forced to spend 30 or 40 thousand euros, perhaps all his savings, because his old car is suddenly outlawed and an electric car has to pass?”
Formula 1’s transition to synthetic fuels has already attracted new manufacturers to the sport, including Ford and Audi. Porsche could also still enter the sport in 2026 despite its planned deal with Red Bull Racing falling apart last year. Andretti Autosport and General Motors also want to enter the sport.
