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Just 2 engines per driver per season by 2019

Published on 25 May 2016 09:52
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By: Rob Veenstra

F1's long-life engine rules will get more than twice as arduous for manufacturers beyond 2019. A few weeks ago, after a long period of negotiations, changes to further converge performance and cut costs were finally agreed.

At the time, the FIA said cost reduction will be possible through a "progressive reduction of the number of power unit elements per driver per season". Currently, drivers can use five engines per season, but Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said that by 2019, that number will drop dramatically to just two, irrespective of the size of the race calendar.

When asked if that will even be possible for Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda to achieve, FIA race director Charlie Whiting said: "I am confident they will succeed, because the manufacturers themselves are confident and agreed to these numbers." (GMM)

mclarenfan1968

Posts: 1,027

Of course they can, you'll just get a reduction in overall speed due to increasing weight of the overall powertrain+gearbox+energy store package, especially the ICE. More durability means less room for flimsy parts that have to last just ~4 races, by 2019 engines need to last like 10 races each.... [Read more]

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May 25 2016 - 13:05

F1 News Renault Ferrari Mercedes Honda

Replies (4)

mclarenfan1968

Posts: 1,027
Of course they can, you'll just get a reduction in overall speed due to increasing weight of the overall powertrain+gearbox+energy store package, especially the ICE. More durability means less room for flimsy parts that have to last just ~4 races, by 2019 engines need to last like 10 races each.

As long as the racing is close, able to follow cars ahead, entertaining and rewarding truly worked for overtaking moves by drivers who cares if the laptime is 1.20s or 1.30s??!
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- May 25 2016 - 13:05
f1dave

Posts: 782
More silly rules, I guess this means more grid penalties for drivers despite it not being their faults. It makes the drivers world championship even less relevant than it already is. Combining this with the lack of free to air television coverage no wonder fans are leaving in droves.
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- May 25 2016 - 15:56
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Im mixed about this. The idea is good, assuming the constructors manage to produce reliable units, and they wont necessarily be much slower than today's PUs to survive the pressure by 2019 I dont think. One thing is for sure: it will help cut costs, and that is a good thing. A possible problem would be a situation similar to McLaren's 2015 season.
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- May 25 2016 - 22:45
khasmir

Posts: 893
This will dramatically increase the price per power unit so in the end it will not reduce the overall costs.
Don't think this is the right way to go, they should drastically reduce the cost per power unit and allow teams to rebuild their PU's for every race. Some parts last longer than others so you don't need a brand new PU every time.
Or what about 2 PU's per car that can be rebuild (with limitations) for every race.
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- May 26 2016 - 18:40