It’s an ambitious plan with lots of puzzle pieces. The concept for the Formula 1 engine of the future is to be defined this year and will then replace the current hybrid technology in 2025. The manufacturers represented in Formula 1 and those who might want to become one have been at the negotiating table with their sports bosses for six months.
There are still fundamental questions like: How much should the engine cost? How high should the cost cap for manufacturers be? Which components should become standard parts and which shouldn’t? What should the combustion engine look like? How big should the share of electrical energy be?
How much energy can you recover under the best of circumstances? Do you need the MGU-H or not? Should you give the power to the front and rear axles or, in the classic way, only to the rear? What overall performance are you aiming for? How big and heavy should the battery get in order not to increase the total weight of the car and not to change the architecture of the car too much?
Dispute over costs cover
Only one parameter has already been determined. The combustion engine must be operated with CO2-neutral fuel. The base will likely be the current V6. Anything else would cost too much money. With the budget cap, Red Bull imagines 80 million dollars, whereby the material value of a power unit should not exceed one million. They currently cost two million.
“The price and the cost cap depend heavily on the drive technology,” warns Ferrari. Like Red Bull, the Italians are among the price pushers. Others in the group consider a budget limit of 120 million to be more realistic. “You could also work with that to cover costs,” it says from this corner.
The negotiations that the FIA and Formula 1 have so far conducted with the sports directors have all followed the same pattern. In principle, everyone agrees. As soon as it goes into the details, mistrust dominates the conversation. Every suggestion is checked to see whether it is compatible with your own ideas. Nobody wants to give up an advantage to the competition.
Also Audi and Porsche there
Fritz Enzinger, sports coordinator of the VW group, now counts on the meeting of the car bosses. There is a greater chance that they will agree on common goals. On July 3, there will be a big meeting for the first time in Spielberg as part of the engine discussion.
The car bosses will meet next Saturday with FIA President Jean Todt and Formula 1 bosses Stefano Domenicali and Ross Brawn. Ola Källenius will be there for for Mercedes, John Elkann for Ferrari, Luca de Meo for Renault and Dietrich Mateschitz for Red Bull. Audi boss Markus Duesmann and Porsche CEO Oliver Blume are also at the table.
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