Mercedes predict only three engine suppliers starting 2014 – Formula 1 news
Mercedes have predicted that there will only be three engine suppliers starting from the 2014 Formula 1 season.
The team has predicted that this will be the case once Formula 1 changes its regulations and changing from V8 engines will move on to V6 turbo engines.
Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug thinks that the sport will be entering a new era and there will only be three engine brands on the grid.
“I assume and think and am pretty sure that we will have three and no more than three,” he said. “But with three I think we can get the job done.”
The engine size will also change as right now the team have 2.4-litre engines but starting from 2014 they will have 1.6-litre turbo charged engines. There will be a lot of emphasis on energy recovery systems such as KERS.
Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes are teams that are looking to develop their engines under the new regulations. Engine manufacturers such as Cosworth have decided to remain quite about its future plans. There have been talks of newcomers like PURE have recently
revealed to Autosport that they are suspending operations.
Haug also added that Mercedes might be looking to increase the number of teams it supplies its engine to.
“We need to evaluate the situation. We are in discussions with the three manufacturers together - still on cost issues and bringing the costs down. And this will also be the object, who will supply whom,” he said.
Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has also said that three manufacturers are more than enough to supply to all 12 teams in 2014.
There had been a notion of Formula 1 attracting more big name manufacturers to the sport once the engine specifications change. Honda and Toyota have been thought to look into making a comeback to the sport after its engine regulations revamp.
There have been no indications from any major manufacturers to enter Formula 1 when the specifications change for now but it can be speculated that they might want to as they are already manufacturing similar sized engines.
It will also be interesting to see how the sport changes once the regulations are changed and how fans feel about the change.
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