Brawn aiming to recruit three new carmakers into F1

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Formula 1's director of motorsport Ross Brawn has targeted three new car manufacturers to help drive the sport's expansion program.

"There are several premium manufacturers that I would like in Formula 1," Brawn told Sports Bild this week.

"Porsche is one of them," he revealed. "But also Aston Martin and Lamborghini."

Currently, the high costs of developing a bespoke engine conforming to the sport's technical regulations discourage new entrants.

But Brawn is hoping that proposals for new engine specifications from 2021 will reduce entry costs and attract new interest.

"I guarantee you, with today's power unit, no manufacturer is interested in getting started," Brawn admitted. "That's why we have to make it cheaper and easier.

"That's why we need to create an environment that's attractive to them," he added.

Carey targets 'louder, cheaper, better' engines for F1

"We have to look at cost control for the future," Brawn added in an interview with Sky Sports F1. "We want a meritocracy, we want the best to win - but we don't want two or three seconds between the teams."

"For 2021 we will have great-looking cars which can race each other," he promised. "We have an opportunity to start again with the engines, learn from the past and redefine what we want for the future."

However Brawn continues to rule out a return to V8, V10 or V12 engines.

"We felt that was one step too far," he explained. "We have to respect the investment the manufacturers have put in [to V6 hybrid units]."

The recent engine proposals from the sport's new owners Liberty Media have not gone down well with all existing teams. Ferrari has suggested it might veto the plans, or even quit the sport outright.

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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.