Ross Brawn insists the 2021 engine regulations need to be cheaper and noisier than the current specification, and they should allow any independent manufacturer to be able to come in as a supplier.
Brawn, brought in by Liberty Media as the Managing Director of Motorsports at the start of 2017, says simplifying engine regulations to make it possible for an independent supplier to come in is vital, and it would prove that they are on the right track for the future.
According to Brawn, the current cost of engines is not economical enough, and although there are differing opinions from manufacturers about the future direction of the engine regulations from 2021 and beyond, he insists that logic dictates the cost issue must be addressed.
“The 2021 engines have to be more economical, cheaper and make more noise,” said Brawn to Sky Sports F1. “They have to be regulations that an independent engine supplier could manufacturer. We’re not saying we’ll get an independent engine supplier but there has to be the technical specification that enables an independent supplier to join.
“I think that is a really important barometer because if we achieve that it means we’ve put the engine in the right place both technically and economically.
“An engine today just on its own is £1m, and that is just to buy the engine, it doesn’t include the development or design and the other things that go on. That is far too expensive. We need to drive down that cost to make it more economical.”
