Christian Horner has welcomed the news that Scuderia Ferrari has joined Mercedes-Benz in backing a possible engine freeze for 2022, with Renault now the only manufacturer against such a move.
Honda’s announcement that they will leave Formula 1 at the end of next season has left Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda seeking a new supplier for 2022, with their preference being taking over the running from the Japanese manufacturer and develop the engine in-house.
However, for this to cost effective for Red Bull, they would require engine development regulations to be frozen, and for this to happen, all manufacturers need to agree.
Ferrari initially rejected the move but are now open to a freeze, with Mattia Binotto, the Team Principal of the Maranello-based team understanding the situation and the need for the freeze to happen.
“We understand their intention to keep using their Honda engines for the future and we had meetings in the last days with F1 and FIA,” Binotto is quoted as saying to the media by PlanetF1.com.
“I think as Ferrari we understand the situation, we are somehow supportive in trying to anticipate by one season, one year, a freezing of the engines, that means as well trying to anticipate to 2025 the new regulations for the power unit.
“So knowing the situation, understanding the situation, it’s not the first time Ferrari is acting in a responsible way in that respect. We will support freezing by anticipating by one year the engines, the power unit.”
Horner, the Team Principal of Red Bull, has welcomed the change of opinion for Ferrari, and feels it would be a positive move for Formula 1 to keep the current regulations in place until at least the end of 2022.
“Well I think that is positive news, I think it’s positive news for Formula 1,” said Horner to Sky F1. “All the manufacturers, all the CEOs of the automotive industry they all recognise that the investment and cost of these engines, particularly with the new technology coming for 2026, maybe 2025, it doesn’t make sense to keep investing hundreds of millions of dollars in these engines.
“So to freeze, the only thing you’ve got to do with a freeze though is there has got to be some kind of mechanism that if somebody has undershot either over the winter or once through the season they have the ability to correct that, otherwise you’re locking in a disadvantage.
“But from a cost point of view, from our point of view it’s a very positive thing.”
