Bernie Ecclestone appears to be losing patience with the Formula One teams in his attempt to push through engine changes for 2017 as a way of improving the show. The F1 chief executive said in Bahrain before Sunday’s grand prix that talks were not working and the teams would have to be told to accept new regulations. The purpose he said was to make “cars that are difficult to drive”.
He had originally raised the issue of changes to regulations on Thursday. “We need to go back to engines whose costs are more reasonable and we need to intervene with maximum urgency,” he said. “We’d just need to take the old V8 engines and modify them by increasing displacement to bring power output near 1,000bhp. People would return, the show would return, sponsors would return.”
Talks with the teams appear to have lacked the urgency Ecclestone requires. “It’s no good talking to these people. They will have to be told,” he said. Asked who would do that, he was vague, no doubt aware he still needs the teams’ agreement. “Let’s see, let’s see,” he replied.
On Saturday the Mercedes’ executive director, Toto Wolff, had confirmed that talks were going ahead and that the teams were willing to make changes. He added that producing the extra horsepower would be possible by increasing fuel flow but the engine manufacturers were insistent it be done with the current power units. It is something Ecclestone now seems to have agreed.
“Whoever supplies engines to the teams has to supply the same engine as they currently use,” he said. “If it’s going to be the current engine upgraded to 1,000bhp, then good – and they need to supply it at a price the team can afford to pay.”
Ecclestone also indicated that Monza’s future on the F1 calendar remained in doubt. Monza’s removal from the schedule would be a huge blow to the European programme given the loss of the German Grand Prix this year. “We have to wait and see. They don’t have an agreement, a bit like Germany,” he said on being asked about Monza’s future. When it was suggested losing the race was unthinkable, he replied: “I was told that when we didn’t have a race in France and Germany now.” He added: “We’ve got some good replacements, haven’t we?”
One of those is Azerbaijan, which he confirmed for next season, noting that it could serve as “a replacement on the calendar” for Monza.
