The FIA's single seater director, Nikolas Tombazis admits that discussions over a return to V10s are in progress, while admitting that money is behind the move to revert.
In late February, FIA president, Mohammed ben Sulayem suggested that F1 should consider a return to the "roaring sound of the V10".
Strangely, for someone who constantly appears to be at odds with the sport's owners, Ben Sulayem's suggestion followed Stefano Domenicali's own admission last year that that he wanted "engines that are much lighter and maybe with a good sound".
"While we look forward to the introduction of the 2026 regulations on chassis and power unit, we must also lead the way on future technological motorsport trends," said Ben Sulayem on Instagram{/}. "We should consider a range of directions including the roaring sound of the V10 running on sustainable fuel," he added.
"Whichever direction is chosen, we must support the teams and manufacturers in ensuring cost control on R&D expenditure."
Over the Shanghai weekend several team bosses gave their approval to the idea, using adjectives such as "romantic", "exciting" and "screaming", and while they admitted that it was probably too late the door was clearly left open.
Tombazis subsequently admitted that talks are taking place, but that rather than concern over the romance and excitement of V10s, the driving force is money.
"Certainly, the progress with sustainable fuels has led to the view that maybe the engines could be simpler," he admitted. "The world economy does lead to views that maybe we should try to cut costs a bit more, and the current power units are way too expensive.
"That is a fact," he continued. "We would like them to be cheaper, and that's why the president made the comments about the V10 engine in '28 and so on. That's something we are evaluating, or for '29 or whatever, with the PU manufacturers. We are discussing openly with them the best direction for the sport."
Of course, a move to V10s, just two years after the 2026 regulation overhaul, doesn't make sense, and consequently - even at this late stage - there is talk of the present rules being continued until 2028, a move which would not go down well (an understatement) with Audi or Cadillac.
While Christian Horner says, in terms of a U-Turn on the 2026 change, that "it's ten past midnight and Cinderella's left the building", all the talk is that Red Bull's engine programme is not delivering the sort of results that we're hoped for, consequently Cinderella could yet return.
In this respect, Tombazis admits that such a move would require the agreement of the majority of the manufacturers.
"Any changes we do, depending on what type of regulations we have, needs to have broad consensus," he said. "There's a governance process.
"We don't unilaterally change things and impose a position, we discuss it with the PU manufacturers. If there was ever any such decision, what would happen in the intervening period we'd have to see. But we would never unilaterally change something and impose something without full discussion."
The likes of Audi aside, as has been seen in the past, the bigger teams rule and consequently there are fears that smaller outfits could be bullied into a decision on the 2026 rules, and that some could even be left without an engine supply.
"We don't want to impose anything that would make it impossible to compete, or anything like that," said Tombazis. "Above all, the obligation is to be fair, and people have invested a lot of money.
"If nine people are in favour and one person is against and that one person is being treated unfairly, we will always also try to protect the one person," he insisted. "We won't just go on majorities and say, 'Okay let's do it.' We're trying to build the consensus here, and if that fails, then we will stay where we are."
Thing is, such is the talk, and the speed with which it is happening, one fears that the decision has effectively already been taken and that, no matter what might be said in public, the bottom line is money and increasing the profits for F1's owners and the teams.
Romance and passion doesn't come into it.
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