Speaking in Abu Dhabi, as he cruises unopposed to a third term as FIA President, Jean Todt was keen to flex his muscles, echoing another French leader whose standard reply to requests for U-turns was a defiant "non".

Having made it clear that Christian Horner's dream of a return to V8s or V10s, far less V12s, is totally out of the question, Todt insisted that hybrid engines are here to stay.

To further crush the Briton's hopes he also insists that the plan to limit drivers to 3 power units next season remains.

"It's not something new, it was decided years ago," he said. "To change, to decide now ‘let's go back to four engines', we need unanimous agreement. And we don't get unanimous agreement, so we have three engines.

"To be clear, I am not so excited when I read that teams have 150 grid penalties," he admitted. "Racing is very challenging and to optimise every single detail is a task in itself."

One of the proposed changes for 2021 that the former Ferrari boss isn't bothered about is the drive to improve the sound of the new units.

"Personally, I don't need the noise," he said. "I am not saying we don't need the noise, but it seems there are a lot of complaints from the spectators. If we can please fans by giving more noise, then it is fine with me.

"A lot has been said about the 2021 engines," he continued. "We are in the process to decide and as of now, that is 2017, no decision has been taken. We have been talking since the past few months with actual and potential engine suppliers and the commercial right-holders.

"If you ask me what I feel about the current engine, then I would say it is far too expensive and too complicated. A very good first step to go into the next generation of engines would be one of evolution from where we are right now.

"I am against starting towards a new development of engines and allow the actual manufacturers to be able to enjoy what they have been investing while encouraging newcomers to come. We have four engine manufacturers and 10 teams, and this has been a great success."

However, looking ahead he believes that allowing F1 engines to be used in other series might attract new manufacturers, this coming in the wake of Porsche's - and previously Audi's - decision to quit the WEC.

"What we have to think, and it is not so easy, is: Could we use this engine in other categories of motorsport?

"Each category of motorsport has its own engine regulations," he continued. "So probably we should try to see if we could have some synergies.

"I mentioned about other championships; we have the endurance championship with LMP1 where we have completely different engines. Would it be sensible to anticipate a vision for the endurance championship using the same engine? Which, incidentally, is covering the same kind of mileage.

"If you take three engines for the year it's about 5000 kilometres," he said of F1 power units, "the longest Sports Car race is Le Mans, which is about 5000 kilometres.

"So it would make some sense. And, clearly, it would probably encourage some manufacturers to get involved by participating in other categories. We think Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, even Red Bull, why would they not think of eventually participating in Sports Cars?"

This at a time when the future of Ferrari and Mercedes in F1 is in doubt.

LATEST NEWS

more news >

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

Click to go to the main galleries section

READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 09/12/2017 6:21

"The Vee-motor era was louder, but generally no more exciting in Sporting terms, at least not after the aero wizards became supreme.

For myself I have no more desire return to the years of noisy petrol-powered processions than continually to re-run the quieter hybrid version we have "enjoyed" of late.
What was clear from 2017 is that RBR still has a much superior chassis to nearly everyone else (except perhaps McLaren). With a Mercedes motor in the back it would almost certainly have been dominant.
A big part of this must be Newey's wizardry, making the car relatively slippery, but also having lots of downforce.
Its biggest asset seemed to be an ability to be less disturbed by "dirty" air than Mercedes' car, I suspect this (and driver skill) was why the RBR drivers did so much overtaking and often managed to challenge Mercedes & Ferrari. "

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by Paul C, 29/11/2017 4:54

"Try more sensible engines for F1. Three engines a season is total BS and will make current F1 slower than a vintage racecar parade."

Rating: Positive (2) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by Mugmug, 28/11/2017 22:53

"Mr. Toad is full of contradictions "the current F1 engines are too expensive and complicated" but we cannot go back to the old ICE of the past that were less expensive and the fans loved them. To me it sounds like propaganda for what he personally wants. I don't know anyone who wouldn't want the screaming V8/V10/V12 back."

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

4. Posted by Natcheztoo, 28/11/2017 20:01

"Why does F1 tolerate this fat toad of a man who always says, "Non?" Non V8's, Non V10's, Non V12's! Hybrids are here to stay?

Apparently, after all the polls done for the last two or three years, the only people that do not want the bigger, raucous, exciting engines are the FIA and its minions.

To hell with it. I am through with it.

"

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

5. Posted by ryanhellyer, 28/11/2017 18:02

"This failed the first time around. I think it's more likely to succeed this time around though, because the F1 engines need to last longer. When they tried it with the 3.5 L engines, the F1 engines had radically shorter life spans. IIRC the Peugeot team did move from sports cars to F1, but they didn't keep both engine programs running at the same time. Keeping them both operational would probably be a lot easier if they both needed to last 5000 km."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

6. Posted by FormerF1Fan, 28/11/2017 16:38

"It's all a smokescreen. To make F1 look relatively better, by making sure that other series look as bad or worse than it... Is there no way to stop this Black Death from spreading? Apparently The Black Death was prevented from spreading by a technique called "Enviromental Sanitation". So, getting rid of KERS and other environmental folly is all we need."

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

7. Posted by GrahamG, 28/11/2017 13:29

"Surely the question should be the other way around - could the LMP approach, which leads to a decent level of diversity and efficiency be used in F1. We would see genuine differences between teams and technical approaches. Could we have sensible LMP tyres at the same time please?"

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

8. Posted by nonickname, 28/11/2017 12:55

"What is small and fat and has mating call that goes like this..
I I I I I I I I I I I I"

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

9. Posted by itcatip, 28/11/2017 12:27

"Great joke there from Mr Todt, suggesting that the current F1 engines might be used at Le Mans.
The Renault and Honda engines wouldn’t last a lap at the moment.
"

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

F1 engines could be used in other series

LATEST NEWS

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

POST A COMMENT

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

Share this page