Red Bull F1 Team Principal Christian Horner "has threatened to join with rival teams to tear up restrictions on engine development from 2016," according to Andrew Benson of the BBC.
Renault, Ferrari and Honda "want an extra step of development during the season to try to catch Mercedes."
Talks over the issue "broke down at the Brazilian Grand Prix." Horner:
"There are no guarantees we can close that gap significantly to Mercedes but not having the opportunity to do so seems pretty unpalatable." Change in '16 "would require only majority agreement, whereas unanimous agreement is needed for a relaxation of the rules for 2015."
Horner: "I think that's the only option because with a majority vote '16, '17, '18 can be open, which is ridiculous because it just means we're all going to end up spending a lot more money over a longer period of time, whereas it should be opened to allow Renault, Ferrari, Honda to close the gap" (BBC, 11/10). REUTERS' Alan Baldwin reported Renault and Ferrari "want limited in-season development to help close the gap, but Mercedes argue that would be too expensive and want to reap the rewards of their work." Mercedes also said talk of an engine "freeze" is wrong since 92% can still be worked on.
Horner said that "mistakes were made with the 2014 engine rules that allowed a competitor to lock in an advantage without rivals being able to catch up." He said,
"Not only have we got an enormously expensive engine, we’ve got an engine that we have got very limited development on. Unfortunately, the costs of these power units has driven two teams out of this sport already and it is a big issue" (REUTERS, 11/10).
TOO EXPENSIVE: ESPN reported Horner said that Red Bull "could not afford to run a third car if requested to for 2015 and insists it is not a scenario the team is actively pushing for." Horner: "If there was a third car requested to run we couldn't do it in within our existing budget, of course we couldn't. I think the numbers are pretty accurate. You're looking at €35-€40 million ($44M-$50M). The third car is only a scenario if the numbers drop, and there's not." When asked when Red Bull would need to start building a third car in time for the 2015 opener in Australia on March 15, Horner laughed and said, "About three months ago" (ESPN, 11/10).
