Cosworth general manager Mark Gallagher says their engine is more competitive than results have shown this year.
The three Cosworth-engined teams are in the bottom four places in the constructors’ championship. Williams are the only Cosworth user to have scored points, and they will be switching to Renault power from next year.
Gallagher said: “The CA2011 is a competitive unit, more than the results have suggested so far this year. We have a powerful unit and have also continued to demonstrate Cosworth’s proven reliability, which is vital for our teams to have confidence in the product.
“We have seen a couple of issues, much as one would expect given how hard the engines are pushed, but we have had a good season on the reliability side of things – probably among the best in the sport – as shown again by all six Cosworth-powered cars finishing yesterday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
“There is not a lot of difference in performance between the four engine manufacturers in Formula 1 currently. We are always listening to the feedback from our teams and looking at ways to optimise the performance of the engine for each race.
“The Cosworth engine has good reliability and excellent all-round performance, and I remain convinced that it has the potential to win races in the right car. We have to continue to work hard with all three teams and also look to future developments; I believe Marussia Virgin Racing and HRT F1 will make another good step in 2012.”
Gallagher added Cosworth will develop a V6 turbo engine for the 2014 regulations: “We have welcomed the new regulations and signed up to the V6 along with the other manufacturers.
“Designing new engines is part of the lifeblood of Cosworth, so we have a highly motivated and hugely experienced team of engineers and designers at Northampton looking forward to bringing this new unit to market.
“It’s not the first V6 turbo F1 engine we’ve done, so it’s not as though we are moving into uncharted territory even if some of the requirements are indeed unique!
“Meanwhile, we have been working alongside our competitors to incorporate a resource restriction agreement on these new regulations to lay sensible and firm foundations for all engine manufacturers in Formula One moving forwards.”
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Image © Williams/LAT
GeeMac (@geemac)
1st August 2011, 10:09
The Cosworth V6 Turbo wasn’t that great if I remember correctly. They bolted it into the Beatrice Lola that Alan Jones tried to slide himself into and a Benetton I think, but I’m sure I’ve read that its performance wasn’t worth writing home about.
Journeyer
1st August 2011, 10:32
Cosworth also said that in 2006. That didn’t turn out so well…
David-A (@david-a)
1st August 2011, 17:51
Yeah, I remember the horrendously unreliable Williams-Cosworth thst kept costing Webber and Rosberg points.
BasCB (@bascb)
1st August 2011, 22:30
I must say I find it highly interesting, that
:-D
Looks like a typo Keith, guess its bottom 4 cars/drivers in the WDC or (bottom 3 teams in the WCC)
Douglas 62500
1st August 2011, 10:47
With Williams leaving them behind I guess they would be desperate in search for point scorers, otherwise they would have to hope that Virgin could do something with Mclaren machinery. Seem like that power degradation problem is still causing headaches for Williams…
Eggry (@eggry)
1st August 2011, 12:41
Barichello said Renault engine is lighter and stiff in paper…
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
1st August 2011, 13:21
I think that’s the reason why Red Bull shifted to Renault, to suit their aero package.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
1st August 2011, 13:22
The Cosworth engine probably is better than the facts state. It could probably win races.
I would say both probabilities are more down to aero than raw engine power.
BasCB (@bascb)
3rd August 2011, 7:36
I agree, that the chassis and the team running the car are the things holding them at the back rather than the engine.
Hairpin (@hairpin)
1st August 2011, 13:58
Salesman talk, if you want to keep the 2 teams you’re left with in 2012, show some results not talk about it.
You’re hardly going to say we have a cr*p engine but keep buying it anyway are you.
Don’t recall you sticking up for the Brit fans either so show up or ship out.
@HoHum (@hohum)
1st August 2011, 14:04
Since engine development is frozen and supposed to provide a “level playing field” why can’t the FIA publish the the torque and power curves of all 4 engines so fans can see where teams and drivers are gaining or losing.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
1st August 2011, 16:41
Are Cosworth power team pay less money then say a team using Ferrari power?
Fixy (@)
1st August 2011, 17:21
If they give engines to the new teams it’s obvious they will be in the last three. Williams should be further ahead but I don’t know how much of their lack of performance is down to te engine.
Scott
1st August 2011, 18:19
I’m sure I read somewhere that Cosworth basically stated they had the most powerful engine on the grid, currently.
Hairpin (@hairpin)
1st August 2011, 20:31
And you believed them ?
How would they know without putting each engine on a dyno to compare.
They’ll say anything to sell the goods there engines, luckily F1 teams aren’t so gullible, well most of them.
Phil
1st August 2011, 22:36
The switch to Renault from Cosworth seems to have made little difference to Lotus…
JamieFranklinF1 (@jamiefranklinf1)
1st August 2011, 23:24
My guess is that engine power makes little difference these days. It’s mainly aerodynamics.
The only differences I would say is the way the engine is made and how that suits the team’s package.
The only time we see it make a difference is when Red Bull lose time to McLaren a Ferrari on tracks with longer/faster straights. But again, that could be to do more with sacrificing a little downforce to reduce drag.
Which is interesting, because if that’s one reason why McLaren and Ferrari have caught up compared to last year, maybe they won’t be quite as quick as people hope in Spa and Monza?
Nick
2nd August 2011, 10:02
If the Cosworth really is better than it looks then Williams are doing even further behind the big boys than it seems. Not good news for Frank’s boys. I can’t see how their move to Renault is going to be anything but a forwards step. If Cosworth really were that good, surely one of the larger teams would be brokering some kind of deal with them.
Maniac
9th July 2012, 10:38
Sadly Mark, it doesn’t matter how good you think your engine is, the only thing that really matters is results and Marussia & HRT are performing so poorly I’m not sure why they bother. As a Brit I’d love to see Cosworth engines top of the heap and it makes me sad that this is not the case.