Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRed Bull Racing

Mercedes and Ferrari control F1 - Newey

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Adrian Newey says the current dominance of the power units in terms of competitiveness allows Mercedes and Ferrari to control Formula One.

The Red Bull chief technical officer scaled back his involvement in F1 last year as he was becoming disillusioned with the sport due to a reliance on power unit performance outweighing chassis design. New regulations are due to be introduced in 2017 to make cars faster, a move which Newey told Speedweek he supports but wants to see an overhaul of the engine regulations too.

"I have always welcomed rule changes because they will give you the opportunity to experiment," Newey said. "What is unhealthy in Formula One is the current dominance of the power units. The restrictions on chassis construction go very far, while you can experiment with the engines. In this situation, only Mercedes and Ferrari are able to win the title. They control the sport. I hope that the FIA gets the situation under control. "

And Newey says he is a supporter of an alternative power unit being available to teams, as the FIA has previously explored this season.

"The engines must be the same, and also the fuel and the software. That would probably attract even more manufacturers in to F1. On the other hand, the FIA could also bring a standard motor into the game, which could ensure all the teams are competitive."

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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.