MARCH 6, 2004

Moves towards 2.4-litre engines?

The Formula 1 bosses have been trying for some time to agree to reduce engine capacity in an effort to cut speeds without creating too much extra cost. The suggestion was that engine manufacturers could simply lop two cylinders off the existing V10 engines and produce 2.4-litre V8 engines, which would have more commercial relevance for the car industry which tends to use smaller engines for its major production models. In the past the idea has been blocked by BMW which is keen to market the V10 engine and does not want to move towards a V8. With unanimity being necessary to make a change, it has not been possible to change the engines. However we are now hearing that a compromise deal may be possible if Ferrari - which has pushed hardest for the switch to 2.4-engines - agrees to curt back on testing. At the moment everyone in the sport wants testing cut except Ferrari. Bernie Ecclestone said in Melbourne this week that he thinks that there would be 20 races and 20 days of testing and team bosses yesterday underlined the fact that they need to cut costs. Renault's Flavio Briatore said that the sport needs to halve its budgets.

"We need to reduce our budget by 40 to 50 percent and it is possible. I still don't understand why we are not sitting together and doing it," said the Italian.

Ecclestone is less optimistic because he believes that the only way to cut costs in F1 is to have less money available for the teams to spend.