F1 Could Bring Back Refueling as Part of Push to Reduce Weight – Report

Refueling hasn’t been part of Formula 1 since 2010, when the FIA banned it on cost and safety grounds. Fifteen years later, it’s back on the table – and this time the motivation isn’t strategy, it’s weight.

Conversations between the FIA and F1’s power unit manufacturers about the 2031 regulations are now underway, per Motorsport Italia, and reintroducing mid-race fuel stops is being floated as one way to shrink the fuel tank, reduce overall car mass, and claw back some of the size and agility that modern F1 machinery has lost. The claim is that refueling alone could strip around 50kg from the car – a meaningful chunk of the roughly 94kg gap between today’s minimum weight of 724kg and the ~700kg target the FIA has set for 2031. Ben Sulayem has mentioned an even more ambitious figure of 630kg in some statements, though Motorsport.comreports 700kg as the more realistic near-term goal.

The weight problem isn’t new. When refueling was banned ahead of 2010, cars had to carry a full race load of fuel from the start – about 110kg worth – which forced teams to build longer, heavier chassis. The cars that raced in 2010 were around 22cm longer than their 2009 predecessors for exactly that reason. Every regulation cycle since has added complexity and mass, and the 2026 power unit, with its near-50:50 combustion-to-electric split and an MGU-K contributing up to 350kW, hasn’t helped.

The V8 Is the Bigger Story

Refueling is really a footnote to the main event: the strong likelihood that Formula 1 will return to naturally aspirated V8 power by 2031. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been direct about it, telling reporters that “V8s are lighter, simpler and more cost-effective, while sustainable fuels mean they can remain aligned with our environmental ambitions. Most importantly, they bring back the unique, visceral sound that fans around the world associate with Formula 1.”

His preferred configuration calls for a naturally aspirated V8 with around 10% hybridisation, producing roughly 760hp in base trim and closer to 880hp with the hybrid system engaged – all without a turbocharger, which Ben Sulayem argues adds unnecessary weight and cost. The FIA reportedly consulted all six current engine suppliers, who indicated a preference for a simpler, lighter package, with power unit costs potentially falling from around €1.5 million to approximately €700,000.

Not everyone is fully aligned. Audi, which only just entered the sport under the current turbo-hybrid framework, is pushing to keep forced induction. CEO Gernot Dollner has made clear the company isn’t enthusiastic about an early regulation change given its recent investment, though he stopped short of calling new engine rules a deal-breaker. According to German outlet Auto Motor und Sport, a 2.4-litre turbocharged V8 has emerged as one possible middle-ground configuration – a layout that would satisfy the V8 advocates while keeping a path open for manufacturers who prefer boost.

Mercedes is broadly comfortable with the V8 direction. Team principal Toto Wolff described it as “the best consensus,” adding that “having naturally aspirated [engines] revving, with an energy recovery system that is still a performance differentiator, with sustainable fuel – all of that is pretty aligned.”

The governing body has the authority to impose the 2031 rules unilaterally if manufacturers can’t reach agreement, though Ben Sulayem would prefer a voluntary move a year earlier in 2030. For that to happen, at least four of the six power unit suppliers – Mercedes-AMG, Ferrari, Red Bull-Ford, Honda, Audi, and General Motors – would need to sign off. Getting Audi on board is the obvious sticking point.

“We should go back to V8s next year, if you ask me,” Lance Stroll said earlier this season. The timeline won’t move that fast, but the direction is becoming harder to argue with.