Mercedes and Renault warn against delaying usage of new engines – Formula 1
Mercedes and Renault have warned against delaying usage of new V6 turbo charged engines from the 2014 season.
The new regulations for V6 turbo engines for all cars participating will take place beyond 2014. Renault and Mercedes believe that if the change plans are delayed it may take a heavy toll on the smaller teams financially.
At the moment Formula 1 cars have 2.4 litre V8 engines. Initially the plans were to introduce four cylinder turbo engines in 2013 but it was postponed a year because FIA wanted to look into the effect it would have on the image of the sport.
The sound of the engines revving was also a big concern as F1 is known for its powerful cars engine sounds and it has a certain excitement element attached to it. That was partly a reason behind deciding for V6 turbo engines instead of four cylinders.
“Every change actually costs a lot of money for the people investing in new engines. We're committed to a new engine programme, it's progressing, we've been able to justify the budgets to our board and we don't want to see a deferment or a delay in that
new engine,” said Mercedes principal Ross Brawn.
Renault Sport managing director Jean-Francois Caubet played down suggestions that the price of the engines would cause ructions.
“I think we will probably know in September the cost of the new engine. I don't think the cost of the new engine will be a drama.”
Renault made their stance clear and said that there has already been a delay for the engine change once, from four cylinders to go to six cylinders. It cost around 10 or 15 million, which is about the same for Mercedes and Ferrari. So a total of nearly 50
million was blown for nothing. If there is another delay of one year, it will mean that it will be delayed for another two years and that is not good for Renault strategically.
It will be interesting to see how the followers of the sport take the change as. It is good in economic perspective but will it remain appealing to the wider audience remains to be seen.
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