Old-school V8 engines are back in the spotlight – in a good way – despite the global fuel crisis. General Motors has just confirmed it will spend $3 billion to keep its ‘small block’ V8 running into the 2030s and now Formula One is promising a return to V8 power by 2031.

The move by GM is part of a giant $7 billion spend on its engine and transmission facilities in the USA and Canada which includes the sixth generation of its historic V8 powerplant. The upcoming small-block V8 will be used in GM’s next generation of trucks and SUVs, as well as performance models including the Chevrolet Corvette.

GM is promising better performance, more efficiency and reduced fuel consumption for its next-generation products, which will first use the new V8 in the 2027 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra.
The surprising shift in Formula One was confirmed at the Miami Grand Prix by the president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who has been promoting a return to V8s for more than a year.

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Now he believes it’s time to move after widespread turmoil and disappointment over new hybrid regulations in F1, which promote a 50:50 split between electrical and combustion power.

The complicated craziness in F1 has seen cars decelerating on long straights to recharge their batteries and prompted widespread complaints from drivers, led by four-time world champion Max Verstappen.
Grand prix racing moved to hybrids with 1.6-litre V6 combustion engines in 2014 with a combination of harvesting from cars’ exhaust and braking. For 2026, the regulations were comprehensively revised with the removal of the exhaust harvesting and complicated limits on where and how energy can be captured and then deployed.

Ben Sulayem has been pushing hard for a return to ‘old-school’ combustion power, with only mild hybrid assistance, firstly proposing V10 engines and then switching his focus to V8s.

He has given no detail yet on the size of the V8s, or how the implementation of the rule changes would work, but the FIA chief is adamant. He believes the switch to old-school noise and fury could be happening in 2030.

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“V8 is coming. At the end of the day, it’s a matter of time,” Ben Sulayem said.

His aggressive approach is likely to conflict with the aims of major carmakers who have driven the move to hybrid systems which parallel, and advance, their work on road cars. Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Ford, Honda and Audi – who currently supply the latest F1 hybrid powerplants – have yet to respond to the FIA’s proposal.

As things stand, any change from the current regulations would require agreement from the powertrain supplies, but Ben Sulayem believes he can go ahead without their support.

“Do I need their support? No, it will be done,” Ben Sulayem said.

“In 2031 the FIA will have the power to do it, without any votes from the power unit manufacturers.”