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Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone Thursday proposes to all F1 teams a return to the loud normally aspirated engines.
The teams are today all together for a Strategy Group meeting.
Ecclestone has been strongly against the new V6 turbo hybrid Power Units since Day One.
Additionally, the switch from 2.4-litre V8 normally aspirated engines to 1.6-litre V6s units has seen costs rise from a reported £5m ($8m) to £15-20m ($23-31m) for customer teams.
"We recognise the biggest problem these teams have is the amount they have to spend on the power unit," Bernie Ecclestone told to SkySports UK.
"I believe if you got everybody in the room, secret ballot, there would only be one company interested in retaining this engine, and that is Mercedes. You can't blame them because they have done a super job, and the others haven't, so they've a big advantage.
"Is that good for Formula 1? I think not, because we can all put our money together and have a wager they will win the championship next year, and probably the year after, which is not really the sort of thing we are looking for,” Ecclestone said.
"I have been proposing, and am going to propose, at the next meeting we go back to a normally-aspirated engine with some hybrid bits built into it.
"The teams, manufacturers will have to call it a 'McLaren hybrid', 'Ferrari hybrid' or a 'Williams hybrid'. It's so we get across the message they are hybrids, but nobody tells anybody.
"It's the best-kept secret actually as to what this engine is for, why it was designed and what have we achieved with it because it is a fantastic bit of engineering, it really is,” the billionaire explained.
The teams are today all together for a Strategy Group meeting.
Ecclestone has been strongly against the new V6 turbo hybrid Power Units since Day One.
Additionally, the switch from 2.4-litre V8 normally aspirated engines to 1.6-litre V6s units has seen costs rise from a reported £5m ($8m) to £15-20m ($23-31m) for customer teams.
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| The Renault 2.4-litre V8 engine. (Photo: Renault Sport F1) |
"We recognise the biggest problem these teams have is the amount they have to spend on the power unit," Bernie Ecclestone told to SkySports UK.
"I believe if you got everybody in the room, secret ballot, there would only be one company interested in retaining this engine, and that is Mercedes. You can't blame them because they have done a super job, and the others haven't, so they've a big advantage.
"Is that good for Formula 1? I think not, because we can all put our money together and have a wager they will win the championship next year, and probably the year after, which is not really the sort of thing we are looking for,” Ecclestone said.
"I have been proposing, and am going to propose, at the next meeting we go back to a normally-aspirated engine with some hybrid bits built into it.
"The teams, manufacturers will have to call it a 'McLaren hybrid', 'Ferrari hybrid' or a 'Williams hybrid'. It's so we get across the message they are hybrids, but nobody tells anybody.
"It's the best-kept secret actually as to what this engine is for, why it was designed and what have we achieved with it because it is a fantastic bit of engineering, it really is,” the billionaire explained.