Oxford's oldest student newspaper

Independent since 1920

Formula 1: Mortal engines

From early doubts about the sound of the new turbocharged V6s to the dominance of the Mercedes power unit, the 2015 season has been dominated by engines. We untangle the soap opera that is the Formula 1 engine supply story.

Mercedes AMG have again enjoyed near total dominance, running away with both world titles with their engine having started the season an estimated 100 bhp up on rival engines produced by Renault and Honda. Williams, also running the Mercedes power unit, have had the edge on Red Bull throughout the year owing to their strength on high-speed tracks like Canada and Italy. Mercedes have also just signed a deal to supply Marussia with engines which should give F1’s perennial minnows hope of beating next year’s rookies Haas F1 in the battle at the bottom.

Thankfully for fans, Ferrari do seem to have closed the gap from 2014, although Singapore remains the only race where Ferrari appeared to have the stronger package – with wins in Malaysia and Hungary more due to team and driver error at Mercedes respectively. The rate of improvement has perhaps been most encouraging for the Tifosi, given that in-season testing will be banned from next year barring renegotiation.

The rift between Renault and Red Bull has been covered by the media like a celebrity divorce. The partnership that, less than two years ago, brought home a 4th consecutive world championship began to deteriorate when both Team Principal Christian Horner made public the team’s frustration at the lack of progress Renault had made with the new breed of engine. Tired of being the scapegoat, Renault threatened to quit F1 before deciding to instead buy back the Lotus team that has struggled since being sold by Renault in 2009. Having burnt their bridges, Red Bull turned first to Mercedes to negotiate a deal for engines in 2016 but were rebuffed by Mercedes team principal (and Arzoo regular) Toto Wolf – presumably fearing being beaten by a car with not just a top engine but also a chassis designed by Adrian Newey. Red Bull now must make a deal with Ferrari or risk leaving F1 altogether, or worse, getting engines from Honda! With the cards firmly in their hands, Ferrari agreed to sell engines to Red Bull but only their current 2015 engines rather than the developed 2016 version being sold to Toro Rosso and Sauber. Recent rumours suggest Ferrari would be willing to do a deal including the mercurial Max Verstappen, with Kimi Raikonnen’s seat up-for-grabs in the near future. With Red Bull ‘serious’ about their threat to quit F1 if they do not have a competitive engine, it’s going to be a case of who blinks first. Bernie Ecclestone has also now entered the engine politics, with coverage of Mercedes and Ferrari cars conspicuously absent during the Japanese Grand Prix in a bid to pressure them into a deal.

If Red Bull-Renault has been the perfect marriage gone wrong, then McLaren-Honda has been the story of a failing marriage that everyone is pretending is OK. Everyone except the drivers.

‘This is embarrassing. Very embarrassing.’ said Alonso over team radio in Japan with all the frustration of a man for whom this team and engine is his last roll of the dice to find an elusive 3rd championship winning car. With the current state of the Honda engine this might turn out to be an impossible dream.

McLaren ended their partnership with Mercedes this year knowing that they had to try something different in order to be able to fight Mercedes own works team for the championship. Harking back to the early 1990s and one of the best partnerships in F1 history and an Ayrton Senna in his prime, the deal generated a great amount of interest… and an even greater disappointment. Perhaps limited by the rules regarding engine development, Honda have produced an engine that has left one of F1’s great constructors wallowing 2nd from bottom in the constructors championship. It is set to be a long winter for Honda.

We can cross our fingers that the competition will be tighter for 2016 but at least be safe in the knowledge that there is only another year till the 2017 rule changes and the deck is shuffled once more.

 

Check out our other content

Most Popular Articles