Breaking news
Formula 1
F1 warned against "dumbing down" engines
Force India's COO Otmar Szafnauer has questioned the push by the FIA and Liberty for F1 engine standardisation in 2021 by warning that the sport should not down "dumb down" the power unit.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Nov 22, 2017, 12:46 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The proposed rules package is aimed at bringing power units closer together by introducing standard parts and other restrictions on development.
However, Szafnauer believes that manufacturers should still be able to seek a competitive advantage by building a better engine.
"We've got to make sure that the formula has different aspects of performance," he said.
"What we can't do is dumb down the powertrain to a point where they're all the same, or marginally the same. Why remove the powertrain challenge from F1? I don't get it.
"We can spend 100 million on a driver for three years or 99 or whatever the figure is. Why would we spend 100 million on a driver? The only reason is because you get an advantage. So it's a drivers' formula.
"And why would you spend tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, on an aero programme? Because you gain an advantage.
"So why dumb down the engine? It should also be an engine formula. It should be driver, it should be aero, and it should be engine.
"The team with the best overall package wins. If you remove the engine as a differentiator, the other two just become more valuable, and I think that's wrong. We're F1."
Szafnauer believes that there is still room for debate on the 2021 rules in the coming months.
"It's not a fait accompli. It was just the first discussion and presentation. I think we're going to get further input.
"I think there's still a whole year before we have to finalise the engine regs, so let's get everybody's input, and see where it comes out."
He also pointed out that the recent discussions did not cover the potential costs of power units in 2021 to customer teams like Force India.
"I don't know what the price is. That's the biggest thing we want, a lower price, and we don't know what that is. That's the most important thing to us."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Analysis: Why F1's $43 million prize money drop has caused alarm
Next article Eradicating "awful" days key to Haas in 2018 - Magnussen
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Force India
Otmar Szafnauer reveals failed Kimi Raikkonen bid involving "Angry Birds" founders
Formula 1
Formula 1
Canadian GP
Otmar Szafnauer reveals failed Kimi Raikkonen bid involving "Angry Birds" founders
Esteban Ocon explains why he collided with Sergio Perez so often at Force India
Formula 1
Formula 1
Esteban Ocon explains why he collided with Sergio Perez so often at Force India
Former Force India F1 boss Fernley dies aged 70
Formula 1
Formula 1
Austrian GP
Former Force India F1 boss Fernley dies aged 70
Latest news
McLaren to introduce 2027 F1 front wing at Brazil GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
8 min
McLaren to introduce 2027 F1 front wing at Brazil GP
ECR prepares for IR-28 transition with in-house Dynisma DMG-1 simulator
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 26 min
ECR prepares for IR-28 transition with in-house Dynisma DMG-1 simulator
Jacob Abel ‘reevaluating everything’ after solid IMSA endurance campaign, targets 2027 Indy 500 return
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 51 min
Jacob Abel ‘reevaluating everything’ after solid IMSA endurance campaign, targets 2027 Indy 500 return
Why Kalle Rovanpera and Ott Tanak are returning to the WRC
WRC
WRC WRC 1 h
Why Kalle Rovanpera and Ott Tanak are returning to the WRC
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe