Bojan Vrbnjak
The news that it will Honda at the end of the season 2021 left Formula 1, shook the world of the royal class of motorsport. It's again indicated for being current engine concept failed. Formula 1 has an obvious engine problem.
In season 2022 will be with Mercedes, Ferrari in Renault only three engine manufacturers at the start. There have never been fewer of them, this brand has only been achieved in two cases: years 1974 they were Ferrari, Ford-Cosworth in BRM and years 2014 z Mercedes, Ferrari in Renault. Maybe it will Red Bull took over the engines Honda and developed them himself further, as he did Arrows in 1988 with BMW engines under the brand Megatron or in 1998 and 1999 s Hart engines. When it's Renault came out in 1997, bought their engines Supertech and equipped teams with them from 1998 to 2000 Williams, Benetton in BAR. Nevertheless, it would also be for Red Bull was only a temporary solution as long as the bait Formula 1 does not bite the new manufacturer as for example Porsche, which has been mentioned most often lately.
In doing so, it is as follows statistics alarming because in the last decade s Cosworth (2010 to 2013) in Hondo (2015) entered only two engine manufacturers in Formula 1, the least so far. We experienced the summit in 50swhen we had manufacturers like Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes in Maserati, and many smaller manufacturers than BPM, Kitchens ali Milano, and on top of that, manufacturers from the Indy series, such as Offenhauser in New. Also in 60s (14) 80s ali 90s (after 11) we had many manufacturers who re-entered Formula 1 or returned again after their absence. Now there are no new (old) manufacturers. And what is the reason?
Why are manufacturers turning away from Formula 1?
Jens Marquardt, sports boss BMW, explains why Formula 1 is no longer interesting for manufacturers. “The V6 turbo hybrid is a drive that has nothing to do with what we have in series production. From an engineer's point of view, I have to say, 'Hats off to what they can do in Formula 1, but for the road, this technique is not important.'”Simply put: Engines Formula 1 they are too expensive, too complicated and not important enough for series production. And how it will be Formula 1 came out of that dilemma? Probably with great torment.
On the first point - costs - is already being done. He will perform next year budget ceiling of € 145 million, which will be gradually reduced to € 2023 million by 130. Otherwise they are in it exceptions such as the salaries of racers, the top three employees and marketing. But with that, it’s clear that without cheating budgets of 500 million euros are no longer possible. And cheating, in fact, no manufacturer can afford. Also on point two - engine complexity - is already being done. Years 2026 supposed to be great Formula 1 introduced a new engine policy. The framework of the current 1,6-liter V6 turbo hybrid engine with around 1.000 cavalry it is supposed to remain, but the technique is so simplified that the new manufacturer, when entering Formula 1, as was the case Honda for the first three years, I wouldn’t be embarrassed to the bone.
Internal combustion engine against electric motor
The biggest problem will be the third point - importance for mass production. More and more manufacturers are switching to electro mobility. Because of this we have in Formula E as many as ten manufacturers: Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, Nissan, DS, Mahindra, Dragon in Nio. But that would still be manageable for Formula 1. The problem is elsewhere, because many automotive concerns they want help political delete internal combustion engines from their offer. Because the racing programs must match the brand of the concerns, the racing series with internal combustion engines, such as Formula 1, are no longer relevant. The same phenomenon can also be observed in touring cars, where more and more manufacturers are leaving the series WTCR and prefer to flirt with the electric variant ETCR, which will come to life next year.
The problem is that formula 1 will not switch to electric motors. For the first time he has Formula E patent on electric motors in racing sports formulas. Formula 1 should take these rights very seriously glad to pay or just merge with this series. Above all, electric race cars are still too slow. They are not reaching speed yet 300 km/h, but in terms of performance they can only boast of 340 electric horses. Even a new race car Gen3, coming at the end of the year 2022, will not reach the mark 500 horses. This, however, has nothing to do with the royal class of motorsport. In doing so, however Formulas 1 in fact, there is no need to hide. Everyone automotive experts are sure to electric cars are not the solution. Even in the future, there will be internal combustion engines that are extreme effective and you can like them hybrids combined with electric motors.
Will Porsche be the first new manufacturer in Formula 1? Maybe, but not before 2026!
And in this area formula 1 it already shines. Not at the moment more efficient engine with internal combustion as currently possessed by Formula 1, with efficiencies around 60 percent. Until the summer 2030 wants Formula 1, inter alia, with XNUMX% biological (synthetic) fuel become whole CO2 neutral. But as long as the bosses of the concerns only flirt with electric cars, Formula 1 will continue to have hard work to attract new manufacturers. But on the horizon shines a ray, which sounds like a name Porsche. Head of the VW Group Herbert diess has already cast an eye on the royal class of motorsport. “Formula 1 will become CO2 neutral based on synthetic fuels. It’s much more exciting, fun, more racing, and offers better technological competition than Formula E, which makes a few laps around city centers."
The new future head of Formula 1, Stefano domenicali, who will replace the American next year Chase Carey, has been at the helm of the sports car manufacturer for many years Lamborghini. So he should know how they think heads of concerns and how it can encourage producers to re - enter Formula 1, although we can be sure that he will not have an easy job.
