When FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem gets an idea into his head, it's well known that he can commit to it and double down even when others are sceptical.
At times it has put him on a collision course with people – such as his crusade against drivers swearing or Formula 1's jewellery ban.
But there are other occasions when what he has suggested has gathered some support, like his desire to expand the grid beyond 10 teams or his push to drive out online abuse.
Perhaps nothing, however, has been as popular as his recent social media post where he suggested that F1 should consider the return of V10 engines, if they can run on sustainable fuel.
He wrote: "While we look forward to the introduction of the 2026 regulations on chassis and power unit, we must also lead the way on future technological motorsport trends.
"We should consider a range of directions including the roaring sound of the V10 running on sustainable fuel.
"Whichever direction is chosen, we must support the teams and manufacturers in ensuring cost control on R&D expenditure."
So given his history of seeing things through to the end, Ben Sulayem's vision of V10s - and the fact the FIA is poised to set up a working group to formally evaluate it - needs to be taken seriously.
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Bubbling away
The idea of sustainable fuels allowing F1 to go back to V10s is not new, and has popped on occasions over the years.
After conducting a sustainably-fuelled demonstration run in Nigel Mansell's old FW14B at the 2022 British Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel suggested that it was a route that would be better than the current turbo hybrids.
"I love the cars. I love to have the sensation for the V10," he said after the Silverstone run. "For the history going forwards, I don't know if that's a separate discussion to have, what is the better way?
"What is the cheaper way as well? Because these [turbo hybrid] engines cost a fortune, their development costs a fortune up to this point."
While Vettel's V10 idea was dismissed at the time by F1 – with then managing director Ross Brawn suggesting manufacturers would not be interested – it has remained on the backburner.Current F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has not gone as far as singling out V10s as his preferred option, but speaking to him last year he was clear that F1 could go down an alternative route away from the current turbo hybrids.
"I don't think that hydrogen itself will be a medium-term solution for F1, for many, many reasons – including technology, cost, and safety," he said, when asked about F1's future engine concepts.
"But I do believe that the right way to develop that [weight reduction] would be either to stay with this kind of concept, with moves to reduce the weight, or – if sustainable fuel is doing the right job to be zero emission and we are taking the point of sustainability in the right way – maybe we don't need anymore to be so complicated or so expensive in terms of engine development.
"So we may think to go back to engines that are much lighter and maybe with a good sound."
Why now?
But, with the V10 notion having been bubbling away in the background, why has the topic flared up again now and suddenly become something that Ben Sulayem is so vocal about?
Partly it is to do with logical timing; in that with the 2026 engine regulations pretty much signed off, barring any last-minute finetuning, now is the right time to start thinking about what the vision is for the next rules era.
Pushing on with the idea of V10s is also something that is quite populist; as there are both fans and teams who are huge supporters of this happening. In an FIA election year, it is never a bad thing to be a supporter of things people like.
But there is also another intriguing element that may have lit the spark in getting the V10 debate rolling – and it comes from the most recent Formula 1 Commission meeting that took place on the morning of the F1 75 event at the O2.
Sources there recall a tale of Christian Horner's mobile phone ringing during the meeting, with former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone on the other end.
In a moment of light heartedness, Horner put Ecclestone on speaker phone so the whole room could hear him as they explained where they were.
And when it was put to Ecclestone for some ideas of things he thinks F1 should be doing, he put forward the notion of bringing back V10s.
There are even those who think the whole thing was potentially staged; and part of a conspiracy by Horner to push forward a V10 idea that he is in favour of because he has come to realise the challenges and expense of building turbo hybrid engines is too much.
For a team that has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in investing in a new turbo hybrid, Horner himself certainly is not wedded to keeping them.
"I think particularly with the way sustainable fuel is going, it does open up all kinds of opportunities," he said when asked about the idea of a V10.
"Inadvertently we've ended up with a very, very expensive, very complex engine from 2026 onwards.
"The purist in me would love to go back to a V10 that was done responsibly with sustainable fuel that reintroduced the sound of grand prix racing. It's an interesting concept and one to certainly look for, after this current set of regs."
So with Ben Sulayem's blessing, and other team principals in favour, it's not hard to see the push to move towards a simpler engine – whether it is ultimately a V8 or V10 – as something that could gather momentum.
That is especially true because it could also help address two other aims for F1: bringing back lighter and more nimble cars, and also ensuring that F1 is not subject to the whim of manufacturers longer term. Reducing costs for power units would also be viewed as a good thing.
Talking things down
But for all those speaking in favour of the idea, the latest discussions over V10 engines has not gone down well in all quarters – and there are concerns that it risks putting the nail in the coffin of the 2026 turbo hybrids before they have even hit the track.
One of the key lessons from 2014, when the turbo hybrids first arrived and drew a wave of criticism, was that messaging was critical.
The hybrids came up against a barrage of negativity – with one of the core criticisms being that they lacked the sound levels of the previous generation of engines.
One of the most famous moments came when Ecclestone briefed Fleet Street about how terrible the new engines sounded during their first test at Jerez in 2014 – while he was sat at his desk back in London. It was a criticism that stuck and it took years for F1 to shake off.
If F1 wants to make a success of the next turbo hybrids – it needs to get unified and support the positives of the 50/50 power split between internal combustion and electric power, and the switch to fully sustainable fuels.
As Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff said: "We should be excited about these new regulations coming in next year. We should be talking them up. This is our sport. It is important to have the positivity about it that such an exciting motor comes into the car.
"We are pushing the boundaries of battery technology, of sustainability. It's the first year we're having 100% sustainable fuel. Nobody knows where all of this is going to pan out, and that is really exciting, that F1 is trail blazing.
"So all of us stakeholders, I think we should be really cheering for this and making sure that the sport is perceived in such a high tech way as it needs to be, and less driven by opportunistic thoughts."
There will be a time when it is right to think about the future – and the idea of V10s or V8s or hydrogen should be put on the table and seriously evaluated. But, for someone like Wolff, that moment is not now.
"This is really an interesting conversation within a life cycle of regulations, and that's worth it," he said.
"But at the moment, I think it's a bit premature, and we are at risk of diluting the messaging to the world, if the year before we have even started these new, exciting regulations, we talk about something that comes later."
And therein lies the danger of talking too much, too soon, about chasing a brave new future for F1. It could end up hurting the present.
