Red Bull team principal Christian Horner indicated Formula 1 is unlikely to change its power unit regulations again soon after new rules are introduced next year.
While F1 is set to introduce new hybrid power unit rules next year, teams met in Bahrain today to discuss proposals to reintroduce V10 engines soon afterwards. However Horner indicated that is likely to be off the table until at least 2031.
“As usual all the teams will obviously want something slightly different that suits their own criteria,” he told Sky. “So I think it’s really up to the FIA and ultimately Liberty as the commercial rights holder of the sport to decide. This isn’t just about in three to four years time, this is about what do the next 10-15 years look like.”
While FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem originally proposed the reintroduction of V10s, last seen 20 years ago, doing so before 2031 would require the agreement of a majority of teams, Horner explained.
“There is a governance. When this set of regulations came in, the [power unit manufacturers] signed up to a document that binds the governance. So you have to have what they call a supermajority for any significant change. So that would be out of the six, you’d need four votes out of the six PUMs.
“’31, at the end of [the] Concorde [Agreement] possibly, but before that would need to follow a governance. There is a governance, so it can’t just be, you know, ‘we’re going to introduce this next’.”
Red Bull’s power unit supply arrangement with Honda comes to an end after this season. It will produce its own power units, in conjunction with Ford, from next season.
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Horner said some teams are concerned one manufacturer may obtain a significant performance advantage, as Mercedes did when the current power unit rules were introduced in 2014, and want mechanisms in place to allow those who fall behind to catch up.
“Inevitably, when you get a big regulation change, there is performance divergence and that is almost certain to happen next year,” he said. “One of the topics on the agenda to talk about this morning was how quickly can there be convergence.”
He said teams could be permitted to introduce different versions of their power unit during a season, instead of being forced to use the same homologated design all year long.
“We have a budget cap [so] perhaps the engines don’t need homologating,” he said. “Perhaps you’re [permitted] to upgrade your engines under that budget cap, that everybody has [at] the same [level] to encourage convergence as quickly as possible. Because I think we all want to have close quarter racing, not a repeat of what we had in 2014.”
Honda is returning to F1 as an engine manufacturer next year, having ceased that role at the end of 2021, Audi will enter for the first time and Cadillac intends to produce its own engine after next season. Horner said these manufacturers are particularly keen to ensure they are not left far behind their rivals. “All of those names probably agree on the convergence and having that ability, particularly for the newcomers, to be able to catch up,” he said.
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