Renault threatened to drop out if they didn't switch from V8s to 4 or 6 cyl engines with some hybrid tech. Less than a week ago Lauda claimed that if F1 switches back to V8s Merc will drop out. We all know ostentatious threats are a method of getting your way in F1 so there may be nothing behind Lauda's threat but it at least shows there's an engine supply concern regardless of what sort of lump the teams and drivers would like to have in their cars. I wonder whether Honda would have jumped in if they were still using V8s. Ferrari would be happy with a switch back to V8s. Horner says Red Bull like the idea but then they're not building engines or selling road cars.....plus I'm sure they have no trouble remembering they had V8s in their cars when they won all their championships. I'm also fairly certain they wouldn't go back to the same V8s they finished with. One way or another, the FIA and/or engine manufacturers (minus Ferrari) would push for changes to make them more 'relevant' and 'greener' so they'd need to redesign and redevelop - expensive - and the engines would likely cost more than they did.
Sounds like Sour Grapes from Horner to me. I'm with Mercedes - if 92% of the engine is free to be developed then it seems there's no need to unfreeze the spec. I highly doubt the 8% that's frozen is the split turbo, but I could be wrong. Also some bolding on my part to support what Steve said. BBC Sport - Red Bull back rivals' calls to open up F1 engine development
Williams' Felipe Massa says he will not help Nico Rosberg win Formula One title - See more at: Williams' Felipe Massa says he will not help Nico Rosberg win Formula One title | Autoweek
I don't know where the 92% came from the rules say that only 48% can be changed for next year. Nothing hybrid is cheap. Toyota just celebrated 20 years of it's hybrid. They won't have still been here if it weren't for politics and subsidies. Don't get me wrong I love the electrically assisted turbos. But the rest is just expensive electronics and added weight.
If Bernie's double-points final race system had been used all along there would have been a few different outcomes on the driver side.
Remember when most of the teams threatened to quit F1 and start a separate series? I was never even sure whether it was just the usual "threaten something drastic to get attention and/or get your own way" tactic. I can't quite remember when that was but about once a year I wonder what would have happened if they'd done it. Nathan's comment reminded me. Seems like Ferrari were one of the teams threatening to quit. If they'd gone through with it and Ferrari had played it like they do everything else they might have ended up with even greater preferential treatment than they get now...though still probably not triple points for their driver(s).
Welp, that's it for the smaller teams, and F1 really. Shame they aren't trying to ban energy drinks too.... FIA president Jean Todt under fire for failure to ban alcohol sponsorship in Formula One - Telegraph
Ferrari were part of it and the reason it collapsed. That's when Monaco told Bernie "no F1 race here without Ferrari". Bernie then cut the deal that gave Ferrari that extra money no one else gets. If that series would have happened I think it would have been big teams with big money making cutting edge racing machinery. Money was only part of the gripe the other were the stupid rules. Nothing really changed. Ferrari is the linch pin of the series F1 or an alternate one. Like it or not. When you look in the stands at every race you see one color more than any other. Ferrari Red.
Me thinks in the end Bernie and company would prefer a very small handful of teams that make up the entire F1 field, easier to control and the larger slices of the pie more filling....