[Jody Barton]

Well Mercedes, Ferrari, and Honda had all already given varying degrees of "hell no" to the proposed 2021 engine changes, and now Renault have publicly poured cold water on the idea:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/134221...f1-changes

So what odds the current engine regulations remain in place past 2021, or that the current engine configuration is basically left unchanged with minor differences.

[Purple-banana]

I'm not sure what is the most frightening, that the FIA seemed to expect the teams to just be able to unplug the MGU-H and carry on racing, or they thought a clean-sheet engine design was the way to cut costs.

They need to allow an element of freedom in the engine formula. As the last decade has shown, constricting the design & development possibilities means when one team gets on top, it is very difficult for another to challenge.

68 wins for Merc, 8 each for Ferrari and Renault over 4 years - that is not sport, it's a dynasty.

[Jody Barton]

Yep I agree, and some of those wins on came for the other teams because Mercedes screwed up. However, it looks like both Ferrari and Renault are getting into Mercedes operating window, and by 2021 I'd be expecting near parity and possibly only drivability differences, and deployment differences. So a big overhaul could actually tip the scales again.

I was speaking to a big WEC fan who said the proposed engine Liberty Media had put forward sounded suspiciously like WEC engines, which would allow Porsche to carry over night on a decade (and maybe more) of VW Group engine development into F1... and I don't see how that's fair to current manufacturers.

Especially when you consider the wedge of cash they've all spent on R&D to make these engines. It's a big ask for these manufacturers to drop the MGU-H and other energy retention devices, given these now have relavence to road engines petrol, electric or otherwise going forward.

This is clearly going to rumble on.