F1 2026 rule changes: Explaining the move to advanced sustainable fuel and what it means for all-new cars | F1 News

“One tank of this fuel could power an average detached house for three to four weeks.”

Formula 1 has undergone the most radical regulation change in the sport’s history over the winter ahead of the 2026 season when the latest generation of cars will look – and race – differently from their predecessors.

But while much of the early ‘launch season’ focus has been on chassis and engine changes, there’s another significant change amid the sporting rules revolution – and that’s fuel.

The headline is that for the first time in the sport’s history, the cars will run on advanced sustainable fuels rather than conventional petrol, another step in Formula 1’s journey towards becoming Net Zero by 2030.

But what exactly does this mean, how are they produced and what is the impact on the sport?

To try and demystify the subject and explain the complex work that has been done by network fuel suppliers to prepare for a new, more sustainable era of sport, Ski Sports F1 commentator David Croft sat down with Matt Alemaiehuglobal motorsport technology manager at ExxonMobil – supplier of fuels and lubricants to Red Bull and Racing Bulls – to find out more…

‘Removing waste from waste’ – explained the new F1 fuel source

So what exactly are sustainable fuels – and what has changed for 2026?

“If you look at the regulation that the FIA ​​has put in place, it is one of the most significant changes or mandates in the history of F1.

“This is because the fuel is moving from fossil fuel to fuel derived from advanced sustainable sources.”

“The sources are considered second-generation waste. So it’s really scraping the scrap off the scrap and developing a product from that to go into racing.”

“So you synthesize the molecules and optimize the performance to help you meet the requirements of the FIA ​​mandate as well as help the team win the race.”

What do the regulations allow you to create?

“What the FIA ​​is basically saying is you can use second-generation sources. The message is if you can eat it, don’t burn it, so it doesn’t compete with the food source.”

“In addition, the supply chain and process must have more than 65 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.”

“It allows you to basically find very limited waste like manure, forest litter, combinations of grass types and waste mixes, to get fuel out of it.”

“What it doesn’t allow you to do is use fossil-based sources.”

Let’s say it was a banana skin, for example. The part where the banana touched, you can’t use that. But the peel on the other side that we never eat, can you touch it?

“Right. It’s really something that won’t be used as a food source because you don’t want it competing with something that people would eat.”

“But there are very limited sources. So you’re really finding that second-generation waste in the right amount to be able to deliver it.”

“There’s a lot of waste, but it’s finding a blend that allows you to synthesize a molecule that would meet the requirements and then optimize combustion for performance.”

“You have to go around finding the right kind of waste to get the right combination of molecules.”

So it’s a bit like Doc Brown in Back to the Future Part II? Where it flies in, it goes into a trash can and throws a few pieces, but then it focuses on some pieces in the trash can, then rams them into the car and it flies away.

“That’s right!

“But it’s not easy. It looks easy in the movies!”

‘We went through a hundred and more formulations’

How many years did it take to develop the fuel for 2026?

“It took us three years to develop the fuel as soon as the original FIA mandate was drawn up, and it took 75 people across ExxonMobil to develop this fuel.

“If you think about our lubricants business, our fuels business, our chemicals business, as well as our catalyst business, we have the privilege of leveraging that expertise to enable us to answer this engineering question.”

“So a lot of people, and if you think about the iterative process you have to go through to develop it, we’ve gone through a hundred-plus formulations and we’re really going back and forth between us and the Red Bull team, testing it and tweaking it.”

“I am happy to say that we have met the requirements and are ready for the season. We had the fuel ready and certified to go as early as the fourth quarter of 2025.”

“We’ve drawn our experience from other motor sports, such as MotoGP and the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. The scope of the requirements from the FIA ​​requirements in F1, that’s where it gets a bit more advanced and the requirement is to make sure you’re fully drawing from an advanced source.”

To run the Red Bulls and Racing Bulls teams, how much fuel do you need for a season? Have you worked it out yet?

“If you think about what the regulation is asking for in 2026 versus 2025, it pulls a lot from the hybrid side of the vehicle – 50 percent of the power comes from that, so there’s less fuel use.”

“So I would say about 70 to 80 percent of the fuel that we use for 2025 will be what goes into 2026.”

And what about the difference in performance compared to 2025?

“It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison because there’s a mix of things that have changed as part of the regulation – the hybrid is used more – but we’re very confident about the fuel performance.

“To give you a relevant example, one tank of this fuel could power an average detached house for about three to four weeks.”

“That’s really the power you’re aiming for.”

Where does this sustainable fuel development lead?

“So if you look at what we’re doing now in the team, we’re developing products for 2027.

“So we’re developing the lubricant as well as the fuel and we’re continuing to push the limits of performance. It will depend on what happens in the future if the specification changes, but right now we’re in the development phase.”

Is this relevant to a road car?

“Currently, no, but in the future, potentially, as we continue to optimize the supply chain. Sourcing the materials to create the fuel is a bit challenging due to the limited source to make it in a quantity that would be applicable to road vehicles. We will have to have optimization all the way up the supply chain.”

And what was the price?

“It was three years, hundreds of formulations, about 75 people across the company – so that’s a lot of investment in people and testing, so I’d say it’s a big investment.”

Sports goals on the track

So given the effort that went into it, there will be cause for celebration among the chemists’ benches when the first Red Bull power unit wins a race with your fuel?

“Dozens of scientists have worked on this, so there’s a lot of pride in the product we’ve developed.”

“We are very confident in his performance and we are happy that he is eligible, so there will be a lot of celebrations when the team wins.”

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