2025, hybrid drive will be removed from the WRC Rally1 cars: M-Sport engineer Tim Jackson on the technical challenge for the teams
After the Rally Japan (November 21-24) this week, hybrid drive has had its day in the World Rally Championship (WRC). The FIA, the governing body of world motorsport, decided last Friday that from the 2025 season, the Rally1 cars will only be powered by combustion engines. The battery and electric motor unit built by Compact Dynamic will be phased out.
In addition to the abolition of hybrid drive, the FIA has confirmed that the minimum weight of the car will be reduced from 1260 to 1180 kilograms, as the hybrid drive weighs 87 kilograms. A slightly smaller air restrictor – 35 instead of 36 millimeters – is also prescribed.
Although the elimination of the hybrid unit means a significant cut, the technical challenge for the teams is manageable. “The power-to-weight ratio remains essentially the same,” says M-Sport engineer Tim Jackson in an interview with Autosport,
Long regulations discussion causes frustration for teams
Although the cars are allowed to be 80 kilograms lighter, Jackson says it will not be a problem for the teams to reach the minimum weight. On the contrary, they have to work with ballast weights that are also used to set up the car. “Ballast is one area where we will have a little more flexibility,” says Jackson.
“If you can play with the ballast, you have the option of shifting the center of gravity, but ultimately we’re going to remove a large, 100-kilogram block from one part of the car,” the engineer continues. “The rest is to remove the cooling system [for the hybrid system] and cover the openings. It’s not a big effort.”
The biggest problem, especially for a private team like M-Sport, was the long discussions about the regulations for the 2025 season and the question of “hybrid yes or no”. “At the beginning of the year, we were all faced with the question of what might happen next year, and it took a long time to sort that out, so we drew up a development plan for the year that was then thrown out again,” says Jackson.
M-Sport will revise the transmission
However, M-Sport already has experience with a Rally1 car without hybrid drive. Such a Ford Puma was used for Martins Sesks in two world championship races in 2024.
In the process, the young Latvian showed that the vehicle is not significantly slower when the additional electric power is not available.
Nevertheless, the FIA’s decision means that the teams have only two months until the start of the season at the end of January 2025 at the Monte Carlo Rally to adapt the cars to the new regulations. M-Sport has a gearbox in its sights in particular. “The gear ratio is one of the things the drivers have identified as needing improvement. It will be used from Monte Carlo,” says Jackson.
“With the five-speed transmission, we are limited by the regulations, so it’s more about the lower gears. Fourth and fifth gear remain the same, but we have changed the lower gears to reduce the dependency on the hybrid transmission at this stage,” explains the engineer.