Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone is behind a move for the sport to get a new independent engine supplier.
As it stands, Formula One has four engine suppliers; Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda. The Mercedes and Ferrari engines are comfortably the most powerful and reliable and don’t come cheap for F1 teams. As a matter of fact, each engine supplier is charging between $20-30 million per seasons for their engines to be used. That’s over double the cost of the naturally-aspirated V8s used between 2006 and 2013.
Ecclestone believes that an independent engine supplier could offer powertrains for significantly less money than the existing marques while also not biasing manufacturer teams.
While speaking to reporters at the U.S. Grand Prix over the weekend, Ecclestone revealed that a couple of company’s are interested in become engine suppliers with famed engine-builder Cosworth among them.
Hmm….$20-30 mill? lewis hamilton cost $50mill/season. cosworth could probably do it for $15 mill. Is that kind of money really that much of a problem for F1?