The most radical change this year would be the introduction of 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged engines, instead of the current 2.4-litre V8 engines. Don’t forget turbochargers were discontinued after 1988 and will be revived this year. What this change means? To put it mildly, instead of 750 bhp which the earlier V8 produced, the V6 will be producing 600bhp having the provision of two ERS (Energy recovery Systems) systems providing an additional 160 bhp for half a minute.
The advantage of the new ERS being adopted? Well, the powertrain having both electrical as well as fuel as power source, the driver will have the option to either increase power or save fuel. ERS units will also generate power using waste heat from the engine’s turbocharger.
Second important change to come up is the introduction of eight speed fixed-ratio gearboxes. Although this year teams will have an extra gear unlike 7 last year, but won’t have the option of adjusting 30 gears prior to hitting the track. They will need to do away with only one gear ratio for the full competition, and can change it only once in case things go awry.
Some other changes to look out for are:
- The use of single tail pipe instead of two exhausts tail pipes used last year.
- Nose and Chassis height reduced
- Narrower front wing and shallower rear wing flap
