FIA can still allow teams to use year-old engines

2017 F1 season

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Engine manufacturers may continue to supply old versions of their power units in future seasons – but only with the approval of the FIA.

The sport’s governing body has introduced extensive new regulations for 2017 which oblige engine manufacturers to ensure an affordable supply of engines. However teams will only be able to receive previous-generation motors if the FIA agrees to it.

Ferrari is supplying 2015-specification power units to Toro Rosso this year and provided Manor with 2014 hardware last season. The FIA’s head of power train Fabrice Lom said “there is a provision, if you ask the FIA, like for Toro Rosso, you can have this provision, but with the consent of the FIA, to have a previously homologated spec”.

If the FIA declines to allow a manufacturer to provide a year-old engine they will be required to supply a current one and continue to provide updates.

“It is a TD [technical directive] for this year and a regulation for ’17 if I am correct,” said Lom. “It is clearly said that this is not possible.”

“Clearly you must have the same spec between teams and you must introduce the updates – because we have in-season tokens from ’16, again ’17, you must introduce this update to your customer teams in, let’s say, a timely manner.”

“So, for example, if you have your update today because you have a new engine, the next time you have a new engine on your customer team it must have the updates.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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4 comments on “FIA can still allow teams to use year-old engines”

  1. I doubt there will be sold old engines in 2017 though. With Sauber on the brink of extinction and Force India also in trouble, both Mercedes and Ferrari will be happy to supply their 2017 goods. Losing one customer will cost them dearly. Even Renault and Honda will look to expand.

  2. Customer teams should get the same PU as manufacturers. I cannot believe that they still haven’t addressed this issue.

  3. So Mercedes and Ferrari have covered themselves incase they have to supply Red Bull. Lol. F1 is comedy. There should have been a good independent engine under the same Regs as the manufactures, it stops teams going into unwanted or forced marriages and let’s Red Bull control their own destiny, while not expecting the other RIVAL teams to hamper themselves and supply them. They were riding on their high horse from 2010 to 13 they must have thought Red bull really does give you wings, then a silver arrow came out of nowhere, sent them crashing into the ground and now they are also getting trampled on by the prancing horse. What a FAIL attempt by Red Bu…… sorry I mean the FIA to control the engines.

    1. LOL @foreverred at that one

      There should have been a good independent engine under the same Regs as the manufactures

      How on earth would you want to even start to have an “independent” engine that is any good and reasonably prices as a “backup”? Say one gets Cosworth to build such an engine (not easy, but probably doable), who pays for it (Bernie, Red Bull, the FIA?
      It would then be just as much a power tool as engines are now, maybe even more), then how do you make sure that it will have enough customers to make updating it work (again, a powertool for either Bernie or the FIA, will they dictate who has to run this engine, or will they guarantee it will always be better so that everyone wants to run it?).

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