Three engines per driver? Minardi "A great advantage for Mercedes"

This is apparently the most quiet moment of F1. Engines are turned off and the external teams are on vacation to recharge their batteries. But inside the factories the teams bustle to design and assemble the cars for 2016.

“Teams are creating the first shell that will face the crash-tests imposed by FIA for validation of all the components in view of the first test at the end of February” Gian Carlo Minardi, consulted by Minardi.it, comments. “On one side we have a Mercedes that passes through a party to another to celebrate its double win as best as it can, on the other one there is Circus face engaged in recovering its technical gap. Then there is Haas, the new-entry, that has to arrange everything from A to Z. They are facing a great effort because debuting with a 21 events scheduled on calendar is not easy” the manager from Faenza continues.

Anyway, the mind is projected forward in time. We are discussing to limit to three the number of power unit per driver in 2018 with the purpose to reduce cost. “To really cut the cost of this engine supply, producer should not redirect the cost of development and design on customers, but invest directly. Reducing the number of power units per driver to three is a possible way, even if it is very alarming. Both Mercedes team and its customers have been able to cover the entire season respecting rules without any penalization. No other manufacturer has achieved this amazing result”.

Under this aspect, Honda and Renault will be observed in a special way next season. “While the trans-alpine constructor seems to want to change direction no doubt with clear and defined ideas and projects, the Japaneses’ path seems more harder to me”.Renault, which is Red Bull Racing engine supplier, will return to the forefront as constructor after purchasing Lotus.“They have also acquired know-how around with the clear aim to get back on top. The situation at Honda seems more complicated. The electrical part has been the real Achilles’ heel. While Mercedes can exploit it for more than a minute, Japaneses struggle to reach 30” with with serious repercussions on time.We can notice this problem in T2 and, especially, in T3. In this respect, McLaren batteries have not been up to the job. Also Japaneses have been shopping in Europe” Gian Carlo Minardi, coming from an ACI meeting, concludes.