After a year of promoting change and a revamp of its engine regulations for 2021, Formula 1 looks set for a status quo, an idea supported by the sport's manufacturers.
Despite all its good intentions, and numerous meetings with teams to define a new engine regulation platform for 2021, F1's managers now appear to favour a delayed introduction of their targeted cheaper, less sophisticated and louder F1 power unit.
In an interview featured in the official Belgian GP programme, F1 sporting manager Ross Brawn expressed the idea of scrapping the 2021 deadline given that the new rules had failed to attract new manufacturers.
"I think we just need to think of our timing on that, whether 2021 is the right time to do that, or whether it's better to keep that powder dry until we can be certain that major regulation change will bring fresh blood into the sport," said Brawn.
Now, F1's current manufacturers and teams appear to be on-board with that idea.
"There's no new manufacturers coming in, these regulations are impossible for a new manufacturer, should they come in," admitted Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner.
"I think that rather than making a half-hearted change and getting it half right, I think it's better to take a little bit more time to really consider what is the right engine for Formula 1 moving forward.
"If that needs a bit more time, or a couple more years to achieve that, then that's the sensible approach."
Renault Sport F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul echoed Horner's views, insisting engine regulations should not be F1's priority.
"There might be the risk of trying to embrace too much and not produce and deliver anything," said the Frenchman.
"Our view would be to try and be a bit more pragmatic and focus on what is the main emergency for Formula 1, and I'm thinking really of the show, of the disparity between the teams, the disparity in the revenue. We think that this is really the main priority.
"I think some clarity on budget cap or not, because the costs are certainly too high. We don't think that the engine regulations are at that level of priority."
With teams already confronted with new chassis regulations from 2021, pushing back the new engine rules by just a year would be wrong contends Sauber's Fred Vasseur, who suggests a 2023 point in time at the very minimum.
"It would be a mistake to postpone one for one year," he said. "It makes absolutely no sense to design a completely new car, and after one year you have to design a new chassis because the engine is different.
"Or we postpone for two or three seasons and get a new engine in 2023 or 2024. 2022 makes no sense."
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