Formula 1 technical bosses will examine the potential of hydrogen for future use in motorsport as a part of a brand new working group.
The new Hydrogen Working Group shall be tasked with evaluating the event and use of hydrogen inside each motorsport and “wider mobility”.
The physique will embody figures from motorsport governing physique the FIA, F1 and Extreme H, the hydrogen-powered off-road racing sequence that is as a consequence of launch in 2025.
The group will have a look at each hydrogen gas cell and battery programs corresponding to those who shall be used to energy the primary Extreme H vehicles, in addition to how hydrogen can be utilized extra extensively as a part of motorsport infrastructure, corresponding to transportation, charging, storage and administration. A key focus may also be trying on the security of the know-how.
While F1 chief technical officer Pat Symonds and different figures shall be on the panel, there isn’t any indications that the class is adopting hydrogen powertrains.
F1 is concentrated on reaching net-zero however, at current, chiefs have put a concentrate on the event of environmentally pleasant artificial e-fuels to energy its subsequent technology of hybrid energy models.
Symonds stated: “Our sport has a tradition of bringing new technologies to the forefront of public perception in incredibly short timescales. We do this by being open-minded to all solutions and embracing cross-functional engineering.”
He added that F1 was “committed to promoting sustainability” and in consequence wanted “to explore all areas of decarbonisation of the mobility sector, [which] must include sustainable liquid hydrocarbon fuels, electrification and hydrogen”.
Extreme H shall be a sister sequence to battery-electric Extreme E. The plan is for the 2 classes to share occasions and use the identical chassis (produced by Spark) however with totally different powertrains.
Bosses intention to disclose a prototype racer earlier than the top of this 12 months, have an in depth testing programme happen in 2024 after which launch the sequence the next 12 months. They intention for it to develop into an official FIA World Championship in 2026.