At a meeting on 28 February, the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) presented its strategy for the future. Liquid hydrogen is among the next developments.
While the World Rally Championship (WRC) was discussed, with the aim of introducing an electric category, and other championships (F2, Rally Cross, GT World Cup), hydrogen was the main focus of the meeting.
The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile continues to support the development of hydrogen-related technologies* in various competitions, and has now announced that it intends to focus its efforts on liquid hydrogen. Due to the smaller on-board volume and lighter tanks than those of gaseous hydrogen, liquid hydrogen seems better suited to the requirements of motor sport. The federation believes that the silhouettes would remain comparable to those of combustion engine racing cars.
The shift towards liquid is being confirmed, when the question was raised at the Le Mans Hydrogen event last September. It is also known to be a favoured option by Toyota.
The FIA explains that gaseous storage solutions will be accepted on a transitional basis. It also points out that it is at the forefront of regulations concerning safety in motor sport, with the creation of the FIA Hydrogen Technical Working Group, in 2019, which brings together several manufacturers. And in 2020, an article on hydrogen safety has been added to the International Sporting Code.
*Without indicating whether it is a fuel cell or a combustion engine.
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Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Mariem Ben Tili
