Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFIA

FIA planning engine cost cap

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FIA president Jean Todt says F1's governing body will address the issue of power unit costs having failed to do so when they were first introduced.

The switch from V8 engines to V6 turbos at the start of the 2014 season saw power unit costs increase significantly for customers, with two teams - Marussia and Caterham - going in to administration last year. Todt says he should have imposed a maximum cost for the power units when the new regulations came in to effect, but is working to do so now.

“If you take the engine, I do agree that it’s too expensive," Todt told reporters including F1i. "Here I take the responsibility of probably not having secured that it would be a maximum cost to the customers. It’s something we are going to address.

"It’s better late than never, but we are going to address the cost for the customers.”

Asked if he has the power to enforce a maximum cost, Todt insists: "We should have power to drive down the cost of the engine."

However, while keen to protect the futures of the smaller teams, Todt says the move is not part of a wider push for an overall cost cap, believing there is not enough support for such a change.

"This question for me, we cover cost control and say we need to address some parameters, but I myself, personally, am not a big believer in cost controls. If we will be sure that it is the solution and that we can apply it, then I will not be against it, but almost nobody is in favour of that."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.