The fuel limit
Since 2014, F1 cars have been limited to a maximum of 105kg of fuel per race. This limit was introduced to encourage fuel efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of the sport. Before 2014, teams could use as much fuel as they wanted, and races were often won by the car that could burn the most.
The 105kg limit changed everything. Teams now had to balance performance against efficiency, and drivers had to manage their fuel consumption throughout the race.
Fuel flow rate
The fuel flow rate — the maximum amount of fuel that can be delivered to the engine per second — is limited to 100kg/h. This means that even if a team has fuel remaining, they cannot use it all at once. The engine must operate within this flow limit, which requires sophisticated engine management software.
The fuel flow limit is one of the most important regulations in modern F1. It forces teams to find performance through efficiency rather than brute force, and it has led to some of the most thermally efficient engines ever built.
The 2026 sustainable fuel revolution
By 2026, F1 will run on 100% sustainable fuel — a fuel made from renewable sources that produces significantly lower carbon emissions than conventional fossil fuels. This is one of the most significant changes in the sport's history, and it will serve as a proving ground for sustainable fuel technology that can be applied to the billions of road cars worldwide.
The sustainable fuel will have the same energy density as conventional fuel, meaning teams will not need to redesign their engines. But the environmental impact will be dramatically reduced.
Why fuel management matters
Fuel management is one of the most critical skills in modern F1. Drivers must balance their pace against their fuel consumption, knowing that pushing too hard early in the race could leave them short of fuel at the end. Engineers must model fuel consumption lap by lap, adjusting for traffic, weather, and tyre degradation.
In the 2026 era, with increased electrical power, fuel management becomes even more complex. The interaction between fuel consumption and electrical energy deployment creates a multi-variable optimization problem that teams must solve in real time.