F1: FIA to take action on customer engine deals

The FIA is planning to take action to reduce the cost of Formula 1 engine supply deals to customer teams.

The governing body believes it was an oversight not to ensure the money teams needed to spend on power units supply was tackled in the regulations when the 1.6-liter turbocharged V6s were introduced last year. But with teams now spending around $22 million per season on supply deals – and some having to spend significantly more for the ancillaries – the FIA now wants to tackle this problem.

FIA president Jean Todt said: "I do agree that it's too expensive. Here, I take the responsibility of probably not having secured a maximum cost to the customers. It's something we are going to address; it's better late than never."

Todt would not elaborate on how he planned to implement this change.

As most teams have signed long-term deals for supplies, the contracts are already in place for the current cost structure.

"We are going to discuss it," he said when asked how the costs would be addressed. "I am a realist, so I want to make sure that what we do can be done. I need good advisors so that we can go through with the challenge."

ENGINE BATTLE WILL CLOSE UP

Todt added that the domination of Mercedes is to be expected, given the rule changes at the start of last season. But he expects the competition to become less spread out as the regulations mature.

"We know when you have new regulations, one team or one manufacturer does it better than the others," said Todt. "That is why I agree that stability in the regulations is important, because it means after two or three years things become much more balanced.

"Last year, Mercedes was much stronger than everybody else but this year Ferrari made a good step forward. Unfortunately, you have a newcomer [Honda], which is still apparently struggling, and you have Renault which did not yet put everything together.

"I am convinced that it is now a question of time before three, hopefully four manufacturers can be close to each other."

Originally on Autosport.com