Formula 1: Standard engines by 2010! by Akshat Agarwal

In a bid to reduce the costs, the FIA have announced that they will open the tenders for a supplier of the standard engine. They will also develop the specifications and diagrams that current teams must follow if they choose to build their own engines.

The art of making an engine is a crucial key to performance in F1. There can be no question that it is expensive and the FIA took the step to freeze engine development for the original 10 years.

Max Mosley said that there is no need to develop an F1 engine any further. The engine runs at 19,000 rpm which is far faster than any comparable engine. It sounds good, it is reliable and the six partially frozen engines of the current manufacturers are evenly matched.

The FIA also announced that teams may only use wind tunnel in 2008 and beyond, and banned 24 hour use of such facilities. The number of team personnel at races is also to be reduced.

In a recent meeting between the FIA and FOTA in Switzerland has resulted in following developments, which can result in significant cost savings for the year 2009 and 2010.

1) Customer teams are to be offered 25 engine units, at a cost of 10 million Euros (£7.8million), by manufacturers.

2) Increasing the life time of an engine from two to three years from the next season.

Certainly current global financial market positions are weighing heavy on everyone. Demanding standard engines seems nonsensical from a manufacturer’s position. Yes, they save money but it is not really a BMW if it was designed by someone else and the blueprint for their lump. BMW was against the 10-year engine freeze to begin with, I can’t see them happy with this idea.