Sorry if this has ben posted elsewhere . ( if it has , mods please delete ) http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30553822
Going back to V8's would be a massive step backwards. F1 should be the pinnacle of motor sport engineering, and it isn't.
It won't happen. If we go back to N/A engines and against efficiency, most of the manufacturers will leave. The regulations are the reason Honda have re-joined, why Renault are still here and why the likes of VW/Audi are sniffing around so intently and others are watching again. I doubt Mercedes would stick around either having put so much into a great engine and being told they aren't allowed to use it any more and need to design another one. The engines reflect the direction of road cars and this is what entices manufacturers. The only team i can see this suiting is Ferrari..... funny that.
I don't think they could get the votes for a total engine change. To much wasted money for the engine manufacturers. It's just PR nonsense for various causes, few of which are what you could call reasonable.
I don't understand how radical changes to the engine rules every few years can make the sport cheaper if you factor in the cost of R&D having to start from scratch again. The initial costs of "cutting edge" hybrid engines is bound to be high, but they should get cheaper as the technology becomes more established. Surely that's the whole point? Why do we keep getting this short term knee-jerk tinkering?
I'm not sure why RBR are banging this particular drum. I thought Renault were one of the advocates for these changes. Cheap, powerful engines sounds like V8s to me.
The V8's were only cheap because they were old technology and most of the R&D work had already been done. That's the point Horner is conveniently missing/ignoring. Year upon year there were revisions and improvements through running over the season, they weren't designing new engines from scratch year upon year. The first 2 years of any new idea is always the most expensive, from designing it, to making it work, to ironing out bugs. All that needs done before we get to the stage where they can do tweaks for performance. By the time R&D costs have been covered, it's up to the manufacturers to start undercutting each other and thus reducing the costs to the teams. There's no real reason the v6 turbos should be significantly more expensive than the old v8's were in a few years time. Sure, there is more to them, but significantly expensive parts? A lot is made of how complex they are (and they are of course, getting everything working is a huge task), but all the main parts are all tech that has existed for decades! Turbochargers are not new, the fundamentals of the internal combustion engine are not new, intercooling is not new, batteries are not new, kers is not new. Sure, regenerating energy from heat is "new" for F1 but based on existing tech. Basically, the set up costs are the big hit and that has been done now, they will get cheaper. HD Tv's. When they came out for a "32" upwards one on release you'd have been looking at over £2500 on release. Basically Horner is moaning that he has been forced to buy an HD TV at it's most expensive point and is jealous that his neighbors brought home an HD TV bigger than his at the same price so is saying "Pft, they are rubbish anyway, We should both throw them in the skip and just forget about what we paid, let's go back to tube tv's, they were cheaper and you can still watch films on them after all......." whilst totally ignoring why they got them in the first place.
Should F1 be the marketing toy of roadcar companies, or should it be a sporting spectacle? I'd call the manufacturers bluff. If they leave, where are they gonna market their roadcars? They would soon be replaced by other people wanting a piece of the engine action without being priced out (VW Audi/Ford/Toyota and so on and so on). There'd be a queue at the door to supply F1 engines and the fact is the engine companies need F1 more than F1 needs them. F1 should be about making cars faster yet safer. Fire breathing monsters that excite fans, not buzzing little engines that will do a great job for roadcars and making companies money whilst F1 as a sport is left rotting in the gutter. Sick to back teeth of sport playing second fiddle to commercialism. What these companies don't understand is that there is more money to make by making F1 an incredible watch for a worldwide TV audience than there is in a quiet, efficient Formula. Is this motor racing or not??
[video=youtube;5SoZiTxdQyw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SoZiTxdQyw[/video] Just reminiscing about good engines, when it felt like F1 was a thrill, a spectacle.
What's this nonsense about only allowing four power units for 2015. Didnt most teams struggle to use less than five last year? So what's the purpose of reducing it this year?
Im guessing the 5th engine was to help get up to speed with reliability. They were going to have have 5 this year with the Korea loophole but I guess that didnt work out which is puzzling.; dropping to 4 also lowers the cost. so 20 races, 1 engine per 5 races
