Ben Sulayem’s V8 dream put on ice

A meeting planned for this week to discuss a potential switch to V8 engines has been cancelled.

The meeting, hosted by the FIA and to be attended by representatives from F1, the teams and manufacturers, was planned for Thursday, but it has now been cancelled as it was felt that there was no way in which there could be an agreement at this time to introduce the new engines in time for 2029, and to introduce the move would require a majority agreement.

It’s understood that unease from the manufacturers wasn’t so much about the V8 configuration itself but the plan to reduce the percentage of electric power provided by the units, with some claiming that the FIA president wanted this reduced from the 50% of the 2026 engines to just 10%.

It is the second time this year that Ben Sulyamem’s bid has been given the cold shoulder, a meeting over the course of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend resulted in it being made clear to the FIA president that the sport’s future in terms of hybrid and sustainable fuels are essentially set in stone.

Insisting at the time that it is “firmly committed to the 2026 regulations” the FIA insisted that “electrification will always be a part of any future considerations” and that “the use of sustainable fuel will be an imperative”.

“To us, the V8 is happening,” insisted Ben Sulayem over the Silverstone weekend. “With the teams now, I’m very optimistic, happy about it. FOM are supportive, the teams are realising it is the right way.

“We need to do it soon,” he added. “You need three years, so hopefully by 2029 we have something there, but the fuel is also very expensive, and we have to be very careful with that.”

While the FIA has not commented on the cancellation of the meeting, the BBC claims that a source believes Ben Sulayem is simply pushing “too fast, too soon to get everyone on side”.

Meanwhile, Ford CEO Jim Farley told BBC Sport that “Ford is very committed to partial electrification for performance”.

It is now likely that any change would have to wait until 2031, a situation made that little bit easier by the fact that the sport’s governance agreements only run until 2030, so the FIA could essentially impose any rules it desires for 2031.

That said, any drastic moves on the part of the FIA could see an exodus of manufacturers, Honda and Audi having been particularly vocal in terms of Ben Sulayem’s push for a 2029 switch.

Check out our Saturday gallery from Monza here.