Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone believes that Liberty Media should consider a switch to electric power as part of the sport's future regulations.
F1 currently operates with V6 Turbo Hybrid engines and has done since 2014 but is set for another technical shakeup in 2021 where a new engine specification will be implemented in the series, although this is set to be a more simple version of the current spec power units that are in use.
Speaking last week, Ecclestone suggested that Formula 1 could switch to electric power in order to match the current growth of the electric car market and Formula E, which has successfully attracted a number of industry leading manufacturers including Renault, BMW and Citroen while Mercedes and Porsche are both set to join in 2019.
"We still own the name Formula 1, we still have contracts with promoters," Ecclestone told The Guardian. "Let’s make different types of cars, let’s speak to the manufacturers and start a new all-electric F1, a Formula 1 for the future.
"Can’t we do this? The manufacturers provide the cars themselves but we aren’t going to pay them because they get massive worldwide publicity. It would be a super Formula E, if you like.
"You can make cars be like an F1 car and the only thing you would miss would be the noise and I do not believe that people could not come up with something to make more or less the old F1 noise.
"They [Liberty] would need to have the balls to do it today. I think they will have to do it," he added.
Discussion about this post