How the loss of hybrid will affect WRC cars in 2025

Adapting to a new life without hybrid energy Next year will not require “a huge amount of work”, according to M-Sport-Ford’s chief engineer, Tim Jackson.

Last week, after being first introduced in 2022 as part of the Rally1 regulations.

The decision to use only 1.6 liter internal combustion engines – powered by 100% sustainable fuel – to power the cars was driven by a increased operating cost of hybrid unitsfollowing the introduction of new safety regulations at the Acropolis Rally in Greece in September.

Supplier Compact Dynamics explained that all hybrid units would have to be disassembled and returned to the factory for repair if they suffered three crash test failures above 15G or one failure above 25G. Earlier this season, these engines could be overhauled on site during a rally.

M-Sportthe only non-factory team in the WRC’s premier class, has expressed concerns about the viability of a Rally1 program following the change.

But those fears have been allayed with confirmation that the hybrid powertrain will be removed, but the change will also require teams to carry out preparation and tuning work on their cars between now and 2025.

As well as removing hybrid power, the FIA ​​has confirmed that the minimum weight of the car has been reduced from 1,260 kilograms to 1,180 kilograms, given that the hybrid unit weighs 87 kg. A slightly smaller air restrictor, 35mm instead of 36mm, will also be mandatory.

Even if the changes on paper are not as significant as those proposed at the start of the year, teams will now have to work with ballast -which affects the cars center of gravity- to respect the minimum weight after the elimination of the hybrid unit.

“The regulation that was proposed and voted on provides for a slightly lower weight limit for the entire car, with the aim of increasing safety, and there is also a slightly lower weight limit for the engine,” said Jackson. .

“The power-to-weight ratio is basically the same. You have to work on the ballast a bit to adjust the car to that weight. When you have ballast to play with, you have the ability to shift the center of gravity, but eventually , let’s get rid of a big piece of 100 kg.”

“Once we know the handling of the car is pretty good, we’re not going to stray too far from that baseline. The ballast is something that will give us a little more flexibility and the rest is just removing the cooling system and covering the openings. It’s not a lot of work,” he added.

Doubts over the 2025 regulations have left the teams’ development plans in some limbo. Although, has already spent a homologation premium to improve its gear ratios for next year, while And They also planned significant developments.

“There’s obviously the hybrid versus non-hybrid debate, which has made it a difficult year from a development standpoint,” Jackson added. “At the beginning of the year, they told us what might happen next year and it took us a long time to resolve it. So if you launch a development plan for your vehicles, you know that later, Everything can still go wrong.”

“It’s quite frustrating to have a development plan for next year, especially being a team with limited resources. You have to choose very carefully where to put these resources.”

“You can’t do everything. The gear ratios are one of the things that the drivers have identified as something we can improve. And the new ones will be used from Monte Carlo onwards.”

“We are limited by the five-speed gearbox in the regulations, there are more short ratios. Fourth and fifth remain the same, but we have changed the bottom end to eliminate the reliance on the hybrid in these time”, concluded the M-Chief Sports Engineer.