McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh says Formula One should have gone further when defining the specification of the 2014 engines to ensure costs did not spiral out of control.
F1’s smallest teams have warned that engine costs could soar to $30 million for a single season from next year due to the introduction of new V6 engines featuring sophisticated energy recovery systems.
Whitmarsh told Autosport that “the overall thrust” of the regulations had been correct. “Downsizing, direct injection, turbocharging, those are road relevant technologies and are good. Energy recovery is good.”
“Whether the high-speed motors that are necessary to be driven by exhaust turbines in excess of 100,000rpm are road relevant, I suspect not,” he added. “They are pretty exotic.”
“Conceptually, it was good but we perhaps didn’t control some of the exotic aspects of it which ultimately are going to be less relevant.”
McLaren will remain Mercedes engine customers in 2014 but have a factory engine supply deal with Honda in place for 2015 and beyond.
Whitmarsh said it was down to the teams to ensure more cost-effective rules are introduced in future: “We have got to be a bit more diligent in how we pull things together, recognise the implications and work harder at cost saving in F1.”
