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this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2024
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F1 doesn't genuinely care about being road relevant. They haven't for many years (if ever).
If they did care, they would have allowed active aero, less restrictive powertrain constraints, and many other innovations.
They care more about preserving the "image" of F1. And because of that, ICE will not be going away for a very, very, long time.
Iirc Formula E has some kind of contract that guarantees it to be the only FIA sanctioned completely electric racing series until 2035, so some kind of ICE has to be retained in F1 until that point at least.
Edit: the agreement even goes till 2039
And Lewis Hamilton signed with Mercedes for 2025. There are always options that allow earlier changes.
Car makers do, though. They were the ones who pushed for hybrid tech in the hypercar class of sportscar racing.
Do they really though? I know they say they do, but I don't think the mean it.
At the end of the day, manufacturers participate in F1 because of marketing. Not because of the opportunity to develop technology. Since F1 is a marketing exercise for them, they care more about the image their teams portray. Just like how F1 wants cars to project a particular image.
They want their brand associated with people seeing the car and saying "wow, now that's a racecar." ICE in F1 won't be going away until the general public divorces ICE from the image of high performance racecars. It has nothing to do with speed or technology development.
(Additional reply) According to an interview with an DTM representative, car makers contacted them to pave a path for electrified cars (DTM is currently GT3-based).
It's harder to market overpriced electric and hybrid cars with a race series that acts as if E10 fuel was a massive innovation.
Let's face it this is the real answer. Just think how many people just want to bring back the v10 era.
That's why I didn't propose the ICE to go away, just frozen. I understand it needs to be there for the image, oil money, length of the race, etc.