Vasseur Cautious as F1 Eyes Six Engine Suppliers by 2028

F1 anticipates six engine manufacturers by 2028, yet Ferrari’s Vasseur urges caution, citing the sport’s historically unpredictable cycles.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur stated that the arrival of General Motors (GM) in F1, through its Cadillac brand, as a power unit supplier would be a positive development but emphasized the fragile nature of maintaining a significant number of engine manufacturers in the sport.

When F1 enters a new regulatory cycle at the start of the 2026 season, it will have five engine suppliers. This figure would have been six had Alpine not decided to end the Renault F1 program to become a Mercedes customer.

It will take until 2028 at the earliest to reach six manufacturers, with GM joining Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda, Red Bull Powertrains, and Audi — the latter two being newcomers themselves in 2026.

“It’s a new engine manufacturer for the future, and that’s a good thing. But we must all keep in mind what has happened in the past — F1 is a cycle,” warned Vasseur, who will supply Ferrari engines to Cadillac F1 until their own engine arrives.

“At a few points in my life, F1 was thriving, like in 2006-2007. Or there were tough moments, like in 2017-2018, when at one stage, we weren’t even sure we’d have more than two engine manufacturers.”

“This means that if they can deliver an engine, it’s good for F1, but you never know what the future holds — you saw what Alpine decided (by stopping the Renault engine).”