Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has warned rivals Christian Horner of Red Bull and Marco Mattiacci of Ferrari that they’re playing a dangerous game and potentially digging Formula 1’s grave if they push ahead with their engine plans.
Horner and Mattiacci are keen to see F1’s engine rules relaxed to a degree that would allow unlimited development in 2015 and beyond, allowing rivals to catch up with the superior Mercedes unit.
With Mercedes blocking their proposals for 2015, Horner and Mattiacci have taken things a step further and are ready to force a majority vote for the 2016 season, even going as far as calling for the return of V8 engines – something he has now backed down on – or a totally new power unit altogether.
“Maybe we need to even go as far as looking at a different engine, y’know, a new engine,” Horner said on Friday. “Maybe still a V6 but maybe a more simplified V6 that controls the cost. Cost of development, cost of supply to a team and to the privateer teams. I think that’s something we need to have a serious discussion about during the next strategy group.
“Rather than perhaps going backwards with the V8, maybe we should potentially keep the basis of what’s been achieved but look at simplifying it because if the development costs stay at where they are, we will not attract new manufacturers into the sport and we may well drive current manufacturers out of the sport. So we have to think, not just about today but about the future.”
Mattiacci was in agreement. He too suggested something more drastic for the season after next because the costs are far too high.
“Definitely we need to look at something different 2016. In terms of power unit and in terms of regulation,” he said. “2015 is clear we will have to – at the moment – accept the status quo but definitely we are not going to accept the status quo for 2016.
“The cost of the power unit is a problem. The fact that we cannot enhance our power unit during the season is a cost for us, for not performing. So, the difficulties that that the small teams are facing is an issue on the table – so I think all these problems are very well connected. I think that the strategy group and the F1 Commission are the proper arena where to touch these points trying to find a common direction but, indeed, 2016 is sort-of different.”
However Wolff argues that it would be crazy to drop the current engines after two seasons considering the millions that have been spent on developing them, added to that the cost of developing a new ‘simpler’ engine wouldn’t help anyone.
“We have a big responsibility for all teams and we need to look at the costs but you can’t turn the time back,” he warned. “We are all talking about costs and if you would open up the regulations in the way it has been described, that clearly means you don’t care about costs because that would be like digging a grave for Formula One.
“We have spent considerable amounts in the development of the power unit. I think we need to be sensible and we need to come up with solutions which enable the small teams to survive and which still enable the big teams to showcase the technology.
“Reversing everything, changing the format, changing the engines would just increase costs, it would be the opposite for what we need for Formula One at the current stage.”
All three did agree on one thing though, and that’s the possibility of F1’s smaller teams using the 2014 engines rather than the updated 2015 units at a reduced cost. However that would require a change to the regulations as they require that only one design is homologated by the FIA per manufacturer at any one time.
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