A few rounds into one of the most controversial regulatory seasons in recent F1 history, the FIA president walked into the Miami paddock and said what many fans have wanted to hear since the V6 turbo-hybrid era began in 2014: the V8 is coming back. Mohammed Ben Sulayem's statement to Reuters came with a year, a legal mechanism, and a bluntness that surprised even paddock veterans in the room. Here is what he actually said, why the political window finally cracked open in 2026, and what F1 V8 engines returning in 2030 or 2031 would actually mean.
F1 V8 engines - what Ben Sulayem confirmed at Miami
Speaking to reporters on the Saturday of the Miami Grand Prix weekend, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem left no ambiguity. "It's coming. Oh yes, it is coming. At the end of the day, it's a matter of time," he told Reuters. His target: 2030. His backstop: 2031. "In 2031, the FIA will have the power to do it, without any votes from the PUMs," he said, using the term for power unit manufacturers. "But we want to bring it one year earlier, which everyone now is asking for."
When pushed on what happens if manufacturers resist the earlier date, Ben Sulayem was equally direct: "When you try to tell them they say no - but what will come, will come. It will be done. V8 is coming." In his reading, 2031 would not require manufacturer approval - the FIA would have authority to act unilaterally under current regulations. The year that still needs political agreement is 2030 only. In 2025, Ben Sulayem tried to bring V10 engines back and manufacturers blocked it. The V8 attempt has a different structure.
What is superclipping - and why 2026 broke the drivers
To understand why Ben Sulayem felt comfortable making this announcement publicly, you need to know what the 2026 season looked like in its first few rounds. The new regulations introduced a near 50-50 split between electrical and combustion power - the most ambitious hybrid formula in F1 history. Superclipping is the visible result of aggressive energy recovery and deployment management: even with the throttle open, the car can lose acceleration or speed on a straight because the power unit is prioritising battery state. Under the original 2026 rules, a car could spend up to six to eight seconds per lap in this state. Closing-speed gaps between a charged car and one in mid-harvest could exceed 30 km/h on the same straight, creating genuine safety concerns - most visibly in the Suzuka incident in which Oliver Bearman closed rapidly on Franco Colapinto's Alpine, took avoiding action and crashed into the barriers.
Max Verstappen called the 2026 cars "Formula E on steroids" and said driving them was "not a lot of fun." Lance Stroll was among the drivers who spoke out most directly against the fundamental design of the rules. Lando Norris, the reigning champion, said "we want more" when the Miami tweaks were announced - a diplomatic way of saying the patches do not address the underlying architecture.
The Miami fixes did reduce superclipping: recharge power was raised from 250 kW to 350 kW and qualifying energy recharge was cut from 8 MJ to 7 MJ per lap, bringing superclipping time down to roughly two to four seconds per lap. An improvement. But McLaren's Oscar Piastri put the structural limit plainly: properly fixing this requires "changing the hardware of the power unit." Software cannot undo a formula built on a 50-50 power split.
For Red Bull fans, Verstappen's running commentary on the 2026 rules has been one of the defining subplots of this season - a four-time champion at the height of his powers, still the loudest voice saying something is fundamentally broken.
Why V8 and not V10 - the road-car argument
Ben Sulayem has addressed the obvious question head-on: why V8, when so many fans remember the V10 era with such reverence? His answer comes down to what F1's manufacturers actually build outside the sport. "If I ask any of the manufacturers who are in F1 now if they produce any cars with a V10 - an era that many of the cars had - but now, no," he said. No current F1 power unit supplier produces a V10 in their road-car lineup. Asking them to develop one for F1 would mean building a configuration with no connection to their commercial products. That is a harder sell.
V8, by contrast, remains a living engine architecture. Ferrari builds V8s. Mercedes-AMG builds V8s. General Motors, engine supplier to the Cadillac team, builds V8s. Ben Sulayem also cited Audi in the group of manufacturers for whom a V8 direction makes more road-car sense than a V10, though the exact architecture of any future power unit remains undefined. "You see it with Ferrari, Mercedes, Audi, Cadillac," Ben Sulayem said. "You see it with most of the manufacturers. The most popular and easiest to work with is the V8. You get the sound, less complexity, lightweight." The road-relevance argument that justified the 2026 hybrid formula can be turned in a V8 direction too.
FIA's Nikolas Tombazis summarised the changed political environment at Miami: manufacturers who had once declared internal combustion engines were finished have since revised those plans. The EV transition has not followed the straight-line path many projected when the 2026 rules were conceived.
Ferrari has been building V8 road cars for decades - and now, for the first time in over ten years, the direction of F1's next engine era aligns with what the Ferrari faithful have always associated with the prancing horse: combustion power, and the sound that comes with it.
2030 or 2031 - how the manufacturer vote actually works
According to Ben Sulayem, the FIA would have the authority to introduce the change for 2031 without a manufacturer vote, under current regulations. The year that still requires political agreement is 2030. The question is whether the same outcome can be achieved one year earlier.
To hit 2030, four of the six current power unit manufacturers must vote yes. The six are Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda, Cadillac (General Motors), Audi, and Red Bull Powertrains. Two dissenting votes would not block it. Ben Sulayem's read is that manufacturers want this outcome but resist committing formally: "I'm positive, they want it to happen. But let's say they don't approve it for 2030 - the next year, it will happen. In 2031 it's done anyway."
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali told The Race in April that the series is now in "less of a corner" on engine direction. Manufacturers who had once declared they would never build another combustion engine have since revised those plans, and the EV transition has not followed the straight-line path projected when the 2026 rules were conceived. A 2027 interim option - a shift toward a 60-40 combustion-to-electric split - is also on the table as a bridge before any full V8 transition.
What the new F1 V8 will actually be - minimal electric, maximum engine
Ben Sulayem has not left the specifics vague. The proposed V8 formula will have "very minimal" electrification - nothing close to the current 46-54 combustion-electric split. "It will not be something like now, which is a 46-54 split. There will be very minimal electric power," he said. "The main one will be the engine."
Before the 2026 regulations, F1's V6 turbo-hybrid era was generally understood to draw well over 80% of its peak output from the combustion engine. The new V8 formula is expected to land somewhere close to that ratio - essentially the inverse of what 2026 introduced. A lighter car, a simpler power unit, a driver who can push flat without managing battery state through every corner exit.
Getting the sound back is part of what Ben Sulayem is selling - and that is a sale that does not require much persuasion among anyone who has been watching F1 for more than a few seasons. The last V8 era ran from 2006 through 2013. When the V6 turbo hybrid replaced it in 2014, the audio drop-off was one of the most talked-about changes in the sport's modern history.
What this means for the 2026 season - and who drives the V8 era
Nothing about Ben Sulayem's Miami announcement changes the 2026 season. These cars are still expected to run with the current V6 turbo-hybrid architecture through at least 2029, even if the combustion-electric balance is adjusted before then. The 2027 shift toward a 60-40 combustion split could bring real improvement - but the 50-50 architecture that produced superclipping and the yo-yo overtakes remains the baseline for now.
What does change is the forward picture. Lando Norris will be 30 when the first V8 season potentially starts in 2030. Max Verstappen will be 32. Charles Leclerc, 32. This is the same generation, in the peak or near-peak of their careers. The fans watching them today may well be watching the drivers who open the next engine era.
Ben Sulayem closed the conversation at Miami with a line that left little doubt about where he stands: "It's not a matter of, 'Do I need their support?' No. It will be done. V8 is coming." Whether it lands in 2030 depends on manufacturers. Whether it lands in 2031, according to Ben Sulayem, would be in the FIA's hands.
The last V8 race in F1 was Sebastian Vettel winning in Brazil in November 2013. Whether the next one happens in 2030 or 2031, the countdown started in a Miami paddock in May 2026.