Mercedes has joined rivals Ferrari and Renault in agreeing that a relaxing of the engine development freeze could be beneficial for the sport.
The German marque, which has an advantage this season after developing a better hybrid power unit, would be open to the idea, originally suggested by Ferrari’s Marco Mattiacci and then backed by Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul, even if it cuts their lead.
“It’s about defining what we want to do,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. “Obviously we have a competitive advantage but we would take the challenge [of increased competition] on.
“Is it the time to change the rules? Maybe. The discussions we’ve had so far were pretty open.”
Wolff is, as are both Mattiacci and Abiteboul, wary that it must be done in a way that doesn’t significantly increase costs and therefore further discussions are required on the subject.
“There are various concepts on the table and if we decide to go completely in the opposite direction and open it up completely, this will increase costs quite dramatically.
“I’m not sure we could deliver all the same specification of engines to everybody – logistically it’s not feasible – so the devil lies in the detail.”
Related: Renault would support lifting engine freeze | Ferrari want power unit freeze to be lifted
