Formula 1 team bosses are to vote on whether or not the engine freeze rules should be relaxed during the season to allow rival manufacturers to catch up and create a level playing field.
Currently, only during the winter off-season can changes be made for performance gains – though these changes are also restricted – meaning that should one engine supplier have an advantage over its rivals, it’s likely to carry that through the entire season – as has been the case with Mercedes this year.
Both Ferrari and Renault support easing the rules during the season, but Mercedes are believed to be against the proposal, suggesting it would inflate already high development costs.
Ferrari’s Marco Mattiacci rubbished these claims, instead believing it would boost revenues for smaller teams whilst only costing a little more.
“It is an idea that is a win for the media, a win for teams and a win for all the stakeholders,” he told Autosport.
“Looking at it from the small teams’ perspective, if I have the possibility to deliver a more performing engine to them, then they have the opportunity to score more points and gain revenue.
“We are still working on developing the engine right now even if we cannot apply changes [during the season], so I can’t see costs increasing.”
For any change to be implemented, it will require a unanimous ‘yes’ vote this weekend, when team bosses will meet ahead of the Russian Grand Prix.
Discussion about this post