McLaren-Honda’s racing director Eric Boullier fears Mercedes will enjoy a power advantage next year, like they did in 2014, if the engine development rules aren’t relaxed.
Ferrari and Renault are calling for in-season development to be given the green light to allow them to close the gap, but the move has been blocked by Mercedes.
With the Woking team switching to Honda power next year, and Honda debuting their hybrid-V6 a year behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault, Boullier is keen for the rules to be relaxed to allow for greater competition.
“Within the regulations, I think engines should be frozen once every manufacturer has been able to develop their engines,” said the Frenchman.
However he is keen to avoid huge development costs – something Mercedes believe will get out of control if the engine freeze is dropped.
“Doing something that will stupidly increase the costs is not what we want to achieve,” he added. “But it’s a competition and we can change the cars as much as we want.
“If you disallow the competition, then this goes against the spirit of the sport.”
Boullier fears Mercedes will benefit for “a couple of years” if the rules remain as they are.
“Most of the gains they have had come from the engine and they will for a couple of years until everybody can match them in terms of development.
“This is what they are benefiting from and if you could unfreeze the engine regs, you will see some [teams] catch up.”
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