Turbo Recall?
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I read with interest that Williams’ chairman Adam Parr is pushing for the return of 1.6 litre turbo engines in F1. I find this quite bizarre as it’s apparently a ‘green’ initiative.. well I fail to see the point, Mr Parr, as this will increase costs to the ‘poorer’ teams out there. The wealthy teams have been there done that almost 20 years ago, all they have to do is wheel out the old engine, bolt a bigger head and pistons on (they were 1.5 litre) and theyre off. I know it isn’t as simple as that but it’s a heck of a start for those teams who already have the know-how. I used to own a 2.0 litre petrol turbo-charged road car and it drank about the same amount of pop as my 4 litre Jag so ‘green’ isn’t in it.. get real Mr Parr!
I had a bit of a chuckle at the story, particularly when he said that teams pushing to keep the old regulations are fueled by self-interest rather than the good of the sport, and that they have an incumbent advantage.
I think it’s more a case of the current Cosworth engine they are using being at a disadvantage, rather than others having an advantage. Cosworth’s engine is simply miles behind the other three on the grid.
It would be in WilliamsF1’s self-interest to change the regulations so their new engine has a chance of being competitive.
Throwing accusations of being “self-interested” at other teams given their current situation smacks of hypocrisy.
The new Fiat 500 (advertised on this very site) is boasting the best fuel economy for a petrol car with a little Turbo engine. (not an F1 car by any means but shows that turbos can be green)
Engine manufacturers make the engines not the small F1 teams.
Teams that make their own engines are not exactly poor anyway.
Every team action/statement ever taken/said has self interest at heart, it’s human nature.
Well, Renault doesn’t make Renault engines, and Mercedes engines aren’t made by Mercedes. They are just branded that way, so even big teams don’t really make their own engines…
What I’m getting at is that it’s not a matter of budget really, it’s more of a problem with their not being many F1 engine builders. Mechachrome, Cosworth, Ferrari and Ilmor are the only raced engines this year, and as you see, only one of them is made by an F1 team. However, how often do you hear Ilmors being called Ilmors? Or Mechachromes Mechachromes? So no team (bar Ferrari) actually build their own engines. Cosworth also has an interesting problem; it has to supply 3 teams with the same engines, and they all have to work. Two of those cars are in the back, and one of them is in the midfield. Ferrari have the same issue, but because of them owning a team, they have an excuse to focus on one team, where as Cosworth doesn’t…
i think what he described was pretty wild – an electric fan on the intake, a generator on the exhaust (to be perverted into downforce, no doubt) and pit lane driving is 100% electric. i guess that means i’ll get my wish of self-starting cars :P
this is a pretty radical departure, and just what the doctor ordered for williamsf1 to regain their winning ways. on the other hand, williams has always had formula one as their reason for being, so i have to wonder “what wouldn’t have their full support?”
Ummm…Sorry polishboy, that was some time ago!
Ilmor are now Mercedes High Performance Engines
Mecachrome do not make the Renault engine, they continued to build it in the early 00’s but it is made by Renault now. I believe they now manufacture a few parts for it as a precision engineering company.
A new Engine format won’t hurt the smaller teams too badly as they are bought from the manufacturers at a capped price (Along with gearboxes and in some cases rear suspension!). The Cosworth engine was an old design when it re-entered the sport a few years ago, but it has been significantly updated since then (homologation aside). Giving Cosworth a blank piece of paper to start from though can’t hurt.
Ultimately though, I agree with the general sentiment here, a new engine format will probably help Williams more than others, also a physically smaller unit would enable them to package their flywheel based KERS system better and we may even see the mythical beast on an F1 car!!
Check again, Ilmor may not “exist” anymore, but they do make engines. Their f1 engines are branded mercedes, but Ilmor still makes other engines. Check mechachromes website, they exist, and they stol make Renault’s engines. They also make the gp2 engines.
Yes, Ilmor exist however the F1 engines are made by Mercedes High Performance Engines which is what Ilmor was rebranded as when Mercedes bought Ilmor. The name and special projects division was then bought back by Paul Morgan and now exists as a separate entity from Mercedes HPE. So Ilmor, DO NOT build F1 engines anymore, Mercedes do.
Mecachrome assemble the Renault F1 engines as well as the Renault designed GP2 engines. The Renault engines are designed by Renault not Mecachrome. Mecachrome are a precision engineering company used by the manufacturer much like Xtrak are used by various teams to engineer their Gearbox components.
I find it interesting that the chairman of a team that doesn’t manufacture an engine feels he has the right to comment on what types of engines will be manufactured.
I understand that he has an interest in the direction that the sport takes, but the idea of introducing relevant greenroad technologies was to help the manufacturer teams bridge the technology to their road cars.
I think Mr. Parr is just running out of options with regards to engine manufacturers for his team and is hoping that the new engine formula will convince new (other) manufacturers to the sport (so he can buy their engines, run at the back of the grid, change to another manufacturer, burn bridges, and start all over again).
I made all of that up in my head – no facts!
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