Ross Brawn, Formula One’s sporting director, has refused to rule out the prospect of the sport becoming an all-electric sport in the future, if the rate of development of the engines continues at the current pace.

The sport has seen a huge overhaul in the last five years, going from three litre V8 engines to the all-new 1.6 Turbo Hybrid engines in 2014, which are now proving to be the quickest engines ever in the sport, despite lacking the noise craved by hardcore fans.

Fans and critics alike have been very critical of the sound of the Hybrid engines, despite their incredible speed, with lap records being broken at every event.

The sound of a Formula One car was something all race-goers enjoyed and that simply isn’t there with the new engines, but the fans are getting used to the idea that moving forward sound is going to be the major pulling point.

The inception of Formula E in 2014 has been seen as a success, and with the involvement of major car manufacturers such as Audi and BMW, it has caused Formula One bosses to sit up and take notice when looking to attract further manufacturers to the sport.

“I think we have to respect what Formula E is doing and what its achieving,” said Ross Brawn when speaking to F1 Fan Voice.

“But if you look at the magnitude of the two they are not really comparable; the amount of fans we have and the appeal of Formula One, Formula E is still very junior in that respect."

Brawn believes that Formula One will evolve more over the coming years, especially after Liberty Media’s takeover of the sport, which has gone down very well with passionate F1 fans.

The introduction of more driver interaction, better TV graphics and a more global appeal since Liberty Media’s takeover is helping win more fans, coupled with the exciting racing on offer this year in the title battle between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

Speaking of the changes so far, and plans in the future to change the engines again, Brawn said; “I think Formula One will evolve in the direction that has the right balance of sport, relevance and engagement with the fans.

“If in five years’ time, or ten years’ time there is a need, desire or wish to have a different type of power unit in Formula One, then we will do it.

“There is nothing to stop us having electric Formula One cars in the future."

His claims will certainly not be received greatly by the huge Formula One fans still grieving over the v8/v10 eras of the sport, but it is clear that Liberty Media and F1 bosses will do whatever it takes to keep developing the sport, and keeping it relevant in modern times.

Liberty Media and Chase Carey are after all a business looking to maximise revenue for the sport and keep it relevant whilst exciting.

The outside world is developing alternative engine technologies all the time, with Hybrid and all-electric engines becoming more mainstream in the world’s fight against global pollution than ever before.

Hyundai are even developing a hydrogen fuel-cell which will clean the environment whilst driving, with its only waste product being water, so the need is certainly there for Formula One to carry on its Hybrid era at least, as to be seen to be doing the right things for the environment, whilst keeping up with modern car technologies.

“At the moment they don’t deliver a spectacle, and with all due respect if you go to a Formula E race it is pretty junior category of motor racing”, continued Brawn when discussing Formula E further.

“It’s a great event in terms of all the stuff that is going on around it, but the race itself is pretty tame when you compare it to a Formula One event.

“The cars are not particularly fast, you don’t have personalities involved but they are doing a fabulous job at putting on an event and making it a street party.

“Formula One is different to that, Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsport, the speeds we do, the calibration of drivers we have and the teams we have, and if that moves in five or ten years time to a different power source then we will do it if that is most appealing and achieves what we want to achieve.

“I don’t see Formula One being locked into internal combustion engines forever, but who knows where we are in ten years.

“Ten years ago I don’t think many people would be able to predict where the world is now and therefore I don’t know where we will be in ten years, but Formula One will move in the right direction."