Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has revealed he would now support Red Bull’s idea of introducing a freeze on engine development perhaps as soon as 2022.
Currently, Formula 1 is set to implement something close to a freeze in 2023, whereby upgrades to the V6 ICE and the ERS would be limited ahead of the new power unit currently planned for 2026.
However, with Red Bull looking to take over the engine project of Honda, who are withdrawing at the end of next year, the team has said that would only be possible if the other suppliers agreed to stop development from 2022, thereby dramatically reducing costs.
And initially, Ferrari and Renault both voiced their opposition, until now.
“I think what we said is there are already regulations in place where somehow Red Bull has got a solution, they may be supplied by other manufacturers, that’s no doubt,” Binotto told Motorsport.com last week on their position.
“We understand as well their intention to keep using their Honda engine for the future. We had meetings in the last days with F1 and the FIA. I think as Ferrari, we understand the situation.
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“We are supportive in trying to bring forward by one season, one year, the freezing of the engines because that would mean as well trying to bring forward to 2025 the new regulations for the power units.
“Knowing the situation and understanding the situation, it’s not the first time that Ferrari is acting in a responsible way in that respect.
“So we will support freezing, by anticipating by one year the engines, the power unit.”
Renault too has since said a compromise is possible if the new engine formula is brought forward and the timetable for a freeze be acceptable.
For Ferrari though, such a step would dramatically hurt them as Binotto recently revealed their power unit has a 40-50hp deficit to the benchmark set by Mercedes.
As a result, he and Red Bull boss Christian Horner insisted a solution should be put in place to prevent that kind of disadvantage being carried forward.
“I think that’s positive news for Formula 1,” the Briton said of the Scuderia’s change of heart. “I think all the manufacturers, all the CEOs of the automotive industry, they all recognise the investment and cost of these engines.
“Particularly with the new technology coming for 2026, maybe 2025, it doesn’t make sense to keep investing hundreds of millions of dollars in these engines.
“But there’s got to be some kind of mechanism so that if somebody has undershot, either over the winter or once during the season, have the ability to correct that,” he noted.
“Otherwise you’re locking in a disadvantage but from a cost point of view, from our point of view, it’s a very positive thing.”
That possibility though was met with scorn by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who had initially back the idea of a freeze.
“I think this would be the beginning of the end,” the Austrian told The Race.
“The power unit is not only measured by the sheer max power, but it is subject to driveability, weight, cooling, and introducing a formula that fits all isn’t possible and it’s not something that Mercedes would endorse.
“We continued to push the boundaries and we brought something to the track in 2020, that we were hoping would catch up.
“And that’s why I cannot comprehend that any car manufacturer that trusts in its abilities to develop a power unit and a chassis would want some kind of mechanism that would balance the power units out.
“I don’t think that anybody would accept such a humiliation in public.”
Renault executive director Marcin Budkowski agreed, noting how other series are often dominated by talk as to whether a Balance of Performance has been implemented correctly.
“If you start getting into Balance of Performance, you rely on the FIA to measure the output of an engine, not only on the power, which is not easy to measure but also on the expected performance of an engine on the car,” he explained.
“I think it’s very, very difficult and, honestly, do we want to talk every Sunday after the race about whether the FIA has done the right rebalancing of performance between engines?
“Rather than to talk about who’s done a good job and who’s done a bad job?
“Yeah, there’s a risk, if you freeze engines for a while, you might be a bit behind or a bit in front. [But] we’ve frozen chassis and gearboxes for next year. Tough, that’s what we’ve taken as a decision.
“That [correcting engine disparities] is Balance of Performance really. We don’t really like it. We don’t think that’s the right thing for the sport.”