Formula One teams are meeting in Paris on Tuesday to discuss what engines the sport will have when the current V6 turbo regulations end in 2020.
F1's existing engines have been controversial since their introduction in 2014. In an attempt to future-proof the sport by making it relevant to future automotive technology, the current regulations were designed to promote fuel efficiency above all else. In that sense alone they have been an overwhelming success, with the class-leading Mercedes hybrid achieving a staggering thermal efficiency figure of over 50 per cent. That means more than half of the potential energy within the fuel is transferred to the rear wheels, compared to less than 30 per cent from the naturally-aspirated V8 engines that went before.