Aston Martin is set to scrap the decision to enter the world of Formula One as an engine supplier, as they believe with new engine regulations for 2021 will make the cost prohibitive.
Even though new regulations for 2021 have not been announced yet, people at Aston Martin have reasons to believe that new regulations will be a departure from originally proposed cost-controlled formula.
Speaking to Autocar, Andy Palmer, Aston Martin’s boss, commenting on their future as an engine supplier said, “It doesn’t look like the new regulations will be of interest, sadly.”
“Aston was interested on the basis that costs would be controlled and that the formula would be one part of an equation that would put control back into the hands of the driver. I don’t see the costs coming down far enough with the regulations I’ve heard discussed and I do see that the opportunity to spend a fortune chasing down a tenth of a second a lap will remain.
“At Aston, we love the sport, and we’d love to be involved, but we cannot get involved in an arms race. It’s needlessly expensive and it undermines the sport because whoever has the advantage of that tenth will win. I won’t say we’re definitely not going to do it until I see the final proposal because there are still some areas where there is not enough clarity. But if the door is left open to a spending war, then we won’t be involved,” he added further.
New rules were first proposed October last year and since then discussions ensued. Under new regulations teams would continue to use 1.6 litre, V6 turbo hybrid engines, but with the MGU-H exhaust energy recovery system – one of the current unit’s most complex and costly elements – removed. At that time Aston announced that they were working on a possible engine project.
While their dream to make engines for F1 didn’t materialise, they will continue to be associated with Formula One as a sponsor of Red Bull team.
Aston Martin’s F1 “engine” project was always mostly PR. They acknowledged many times they would need both technical and financial partners for it to become reality – which ultimately would simply have been a way for some else to design and pay for it while Aston Martin got to put their name on it. No one was that stupid.
The whole of F1 has become a technological money pit ,impossible for enthusiasts like me to understand ,and lacking in any real appeal that the earlier years offered.
Now don’t call me a luddite but in earlier times when closer racing ,slipstreaming ,late braking ,simple tyre regulations ,no dgh overtaking zones ,driver operated gear changing ,dare I mention steel brakes ?, and an engine configuration that was understandable it was really interesting. This current lot is uninteresting and not what Liberty paid Bernie all that money for is it ?it,s not encouraging me to go and watch here ,where our prices of entry are very high , or on the continent where it is more reasonably priced for spectators .( and anyway you now get Natalie Pinkham on the telly -you wouldn’t,t see her if you went to races in person !!!)
The technical specs came largely from the FIA not Bernie. And while there is a lot of the specs I disagree with – I don’t want the commercial rights holder to be the one setting them. Look at what NASCAR has turned into if you do……
Was Aston Martin expecting good will and charity to pay for their engine? Costs must come down but not for F1 to become a spec series. Stop whingeing and deal with the cards dealt.
Looks like Arrivabene and Wolff got their own way again – what a surprise – shock horror !!!!