Aston Martin studying 2021 F1 engine programme
Aston Martin says that the company could be interested in supporting a future F1 engine programme, but only if the rules for 2021 and beyond are framed in a way that suits the sportscar manufacturer.
Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer , who attended a recent FIA engine meeting, says that the company could only justify an involvement if a lid was kept on costs.
Aston is currently a sponsor of Red Bull Racing, and is working with Adrian Newey on its Valkyrie road car project, which uses a Cosworth-developed engine.
"We sit on the periphery of F1, with the Valkyrie, and with Red Bull," Palmer told Motorsport.com.
"There's always that question, would you want to enter as a team? Our major competitor is Ferrari, so in that sense there's a rationale in being involved in some way.
"But for a company that's only just moved to making a profit we don't have the 350-400 million a year that you have to spend on F1.
"If – and it really is the big if – there is a cap put on the number of people or the amount of money that you can spend on developing a new engine, and it's at a reasonable level, we have a good reason to study it.
"At the moment there are lots of opinions, and it's still morphing into whatever the final idea will be."
Palmer says that the initial signs are promising, although there is no clear consensus among current and potential competitors.
"It's definitely going in the right way. Clearly everybody accepts that you need more theatre in F1, you need more noise, you don't want to restrict too much of the performance, but you have to bring the costs of entry down. I don't think there's anybody in the room that disagreed with that.
"But the debate is, 'How?' The FIA will say, 'Why don't you remove this?,' and half the crowd will say, 'No you can't do that.' So it's a long way from being a format that everybody will buy into.
"And I don't think it ever will be. I think eventually either the FIA or F1 have got to step up and say, 'This is what we've got to do.'
Source: motor1.com
Aston is currently a sponsor of Red Bull Racing, and is working with Adrian Newey on its Valkyrie road car project, which uses a Cosworth-developed engine.
"We sit on the periphery of F1, with the Valkyrie, and with Red Bull," Palmer told Motorsport.com.
"There's always that question, would you want to enter as a team? Our major competitor is Ferrari, so in that sense there's a rationale in being involved in some way.
"But for a company that's only just moved to making a profit we don't have the 350-400 million a year that you have to spend on F1.
"If – and it really is the big if – there is a cap put on the number of people or the amount of money that you can spend on developing a new engine, and it's at a reasonable level, we have a good reason to study it.
"At the moment there are lots of opinions, and it's still morphing into whatever the final idea will be."
Palmer says that the initial signs are promising, although there is no clear consensus among current and potential competitors.
"It's definitely going in the right way. Clearly everybody accepts that you need more theatre in F1, you need more noise, you don't want to restrict too much of the performance, but you have to bring the costs of entry down. I don't think there's anybody in the room that disagreed with that.
"But the debate is, 'How?' The FIA will say, 'Why don't you remove this?,' and half the crowd will say, 'No you can't do that.' So it's a long way from being a format that everybody will buy into.
"And I don't think it ever will be. I think eventually either the FIA or F1 have got to step up and say, 'This is what we've got to do.'
Source: motor1.com
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