Engine spending needs to be controlled, says Renault

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Renault Sport Racing president Jerome Stoll has called for controls on the amount that teams are spending on engine development.

Formula 1 has dropped the 'token' system that capped how much teams could develop their engine technology in a season.

The development of power units has been opened up in 2017. It's one of the most crucial and expensive areas of Formula 1 for teams on the grid.

"The problem we have at the end of the day is the cost of the technology," Stoll told Motorsport.com this week.

"We have to take care of the costs and ensure that there is a return on the investment," he added. "We have to see how we can curb a little bit or cap a little bit the costs of development for each car maker."

Todt against the return of V10 engines in F1

Current hybrid engines are expensive to develop. There have been calls for the sport to return to older 'classic' engines instead, like the V10.

But Stoll agrees with the FIA that the sport needs to be at the vanguard of technology to stay relevant.

"It shows that even in the competition of Formula 1 we can work for the environment by reducing the consumption by 30 to 40 per cent," he said.

"It's something that illustrates that you can be in this competition without being somebody who wants to kill the planet.

"You like the competition, you like the passion. And you can work also in a way where everybody wants you to work."

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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.