Hybrid could yet be dropped from 2025 Rally1 cars with a vote among World Rally Championship stakeholders expected to take place at the end of the week.
DirtFish understands the hybrid issue stems from changes made to the way the units are repaired. Following discussions in the summer, the teams were told ‘resetting’ the Compact Dynamics hardware was no longer acceptable. Instead, the units would have to be repaired. It is, reportedly, the potential cost of those repairs which is causing concern.
One source told DirtFish: “The teams are talking of the hybrid [repair work] adding more than a million euros to their budgets.
“When we’ve heard drivers coming out of stages and talking about hybrid not working and needing a reset, the understanding is that this reset will now be a repair and the cost of that repair is reckoned to start at €50,000. That change has stimulated debate over whether hybrid should stay for next season.”
The result of a possible electronic vote on hybrid being dropped for next season would likely be ratified at WRC Commission and then World Motor Sport Council later this month.
This latest change comes just months after a commitment from the FIA to retain the current technical regulations until the end of 2026.
DirtFish has contacted Compact Dynamics for comment on the situation.
