Formula One teams face a massive 150 per cent hike in the cost of their 2014 engine supply when the sport switches to turbo-charged V6 power units.
At present, engine supply to customer teams is capped at £7 million per season. However come next year, that cap won’t exist, allowing suppliers to charge whatever they want.
Renault – which is charging the most next year – is asking its customers to cough up £18 million (€21m, $27m) per season. That does however include the entire power-unit consisting of the engine, turbo, ERS unit and batteries.
Bernie Ecclestone is keen to see this reduced. He will meet with Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn to discuss the matter.
Mercedes and Ferrari are cheaper options at £14 million (€16.5m, $21m) and £12.5 million (€14.7m, $19m) respectively – but they both remain almost double the current cost.
Whilst the cost hike is to be expected, it could be the final nail in the coffin for some smaller teams which are forced to rely on customer supply – unlike Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes, which all receive their engines for free.
A Renault engine supply for Caterham for example would make up almost 36 per cent of its total budget. As such, it’s believed Williams are looking to switch from the French supplier to Mercedes for 2014 in a bid to reduce costs.
As such, McLaren will switch to Honda power in 2015 after the deadline to extend its Mercedes contract expired. It’s expected that Honda’s supply won’t cost McLaren a penny, in return the Japanese company will get significant branding opportunities on the McLaren livery.
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