IN FORMULA 1, INDEPENDENCE ISN’T EASY
Have you ever found yourself wondering why Mclaren don’t build their own engines, especially after three ruinous seasons with Honda? We’ve covered the death of that relationship in detail on p58, so I won’t rake over it here, save to say that the subject of Mclaren “growing their own” came up in a debate with the team’s executive director, Zak Brown, over their Honda/renault conundrum.
Brown conceded that such a project was a remote possibility post-2020, but made a good point: even sister company Mclaren Automotive don’t build their own engines. Their delectable sportscars are pushed along by engines supplied by automotive engineering consultancy Ricardo, albeit engineered to Mclaren’s spec and, in the case of the hybrids, with considerable input from Mclaren Applied Technologies.
It would be better, said Brown, for F1 to attract independent engine suppliers able to service numerous teams, much as Cosworth did. Brown’s caveat was that any such engine would need to be competitive, as were Cosworth’s offerings from the 1970s through to the 1990s, with which teams such as Lotus, Williams and Mclaren won races and titles. In other words, not like the makeweight ones used by the ‘new’ teams of 2010, engineered for a budget cap that never came into force.
The need for future power units to be affordable was not mentioned, for the FIA has recently imposed engine price caps on current suppliers. Contracts reduced by £1m for this year will decrease by a further £3m in 2018, and future regulations will stipulate further cost reductions.
All well and good, but such clauses could dissuade engine suppliers from entering F1, or even cause current manufacturers to reconsider their engagements. That’s because income from customer teams lets them offset development and manufacturing costs. A basic law of F1 is that every action has an opposite and equal reaction: every million-pound reduction means upping budgets.
Independent team bosses argue that F1 should adopt less complex technologies to reduce costs – by, for example, dropping heat energy recovery systems, and/or specifying simplified bi-turbo engines with basic KERS boost. But this argument overlooks a crucial point: manufacturers compete in F1 to demonstrate their mastery of hi-tech on a global platform. Remove that and Honda, Mercedes and Renault could exit, and the likes of Porsche or Audi might be dissuaded from joining the fray.
The tightrope the sport’s regulator must walk as it gears up for new-generation power units, is to ensure costs are realistically reduced, while ensuring F1 retains sufficient technologies to keep Honda, Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari and attracts newcomers.
Let us imagine, then, that either Cosworth or Ilmor consider taking up the challenge. For starters, budget caps militate against them by reducing income, whereas manufacturers can absorb such knocks and write off losses to global exposure. What use, though, is such publicity to independents, who have to focus on the bottom line? And, more pertinently, who would provide initial funding? Would independent teams be prepared to stump up the full amounts three years early? If paddock gossip is any guide, some of their number seem unable to settle engine bills in arrears, yet speak wistfully of entrepreneurs taking £100m punts on their long-term creditworthiness…
True, both Cosworth and Ilmor have produced title-winning engines, but that was when they were manufacturer-backed. Cosworth were bankrolled by Ford; Ilmor by Mercedes, who ultimately bought the operation and rebranded it Mercedes-benz High Performance Powertrains. The current Ilmor company was founded by Mario Ilien, a partner in the original Ilmor operation, and now a true independent.
Cosworth’s legendary DFV shared elements with the road-going Ford BDA engine, which reduced development costs while providing road-relevance. In addition, it could be adapted to Le Mans-winning spec (the DFL) and be turbocharged for CART (DFX) – all of which helped defray costs. None of that is conceivable today.
In the 1980s, Mclaren went the other way: they commissioned Porsche to deliver a V6 engine to their specification. The result was three drivers’ and two constructors’ titles. The bottom line is that no purely independent engine has won a title since Repco in 1966/7, while the last such grand prix-winning engine was the Weslake that powered Dan Gurney’s Eagle in 1967.
The moral is clear: F1 should encourage independent engine suppliers, but it cannot afford to alienate its motor manufacturers.