No engine development stop, as Mercedes and Renault worried Ferrari will preserve current performance advantage. One idea is to push ahead with the electrical part of the power unit.

From 20% to 50% electrical energy! Formula One engine manufacturers are unsatisfied due to the high costs, that is why efforts are being made to freeze the development of the internal combustion engine from 2021 and concentrate on the electrical part, as reported earlier today by leading German automobile magazine ‘Auto motor und sport’ earlier today.

“In the interests of sustainability, it would be better if we pushed ahead with the electrical part of the power unit,” says Toto Wolf, as the MGU-K currently supplies just under 20% of the total output. Toto Wolff suggests: “We can imagine increasing this contribution to 50%.”

However, freezing the engine development only works if the performance is approximately the same for everyone. Honda still has the feeling that something is missing from the rest, while Mercedes and Renault are worried that Ferrari will take their current engine performance advantage with them and preserve it once no possibility for further development will exist. Mercedes insist that Ferrari’s current advantage is up to 50 hp, but the Maranello team itself speaks of only 10 to 20 hp. Almost certain is the fact that as long as it is not clear how Ferrari unleashes so much power in qualifying and certain moments of the race, there will probably be no development stop decided for the moment, according to AMuS.