The news that F1 agreed to cap the cost of engines and assured all teams will be supplied going forward is something that should have happened a long time ago, according to Gene Haas. The owner of the Haas F1 Team, which will make its debut at the Australian Grand Prix in March, told SBD Global that those decisions should have been made from the get-go. “The current engine specifications, everybody agreed to it, everybody thought this was the future -- the only thing they left out was the cost,” he said. “Then when the $25 million came down for an engine, that really floored everybody.” F1 teams reportedly pay between €20M-€25M ($22M-$29M) per year for their engines. While no formal announcement has been made yet, it emerged that the series' four engine manufacturers -- Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda and Renault -- agreed to limit the cost to €12M ($13M) following a two-day meeting in Geneva. “If they would have put that in writing somewhere -- here’s what the engine costs -- it would have eliminated a lot of the confusion.” The manufacturers also provided assurances that the whole grid will be supplied with engines.
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| Gene Haas
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NEW RULES: The new regulations are expected to take effect in ’18 and will remain unchanged for three seasons. Making sure the specifications remain stable through ’20 is an important aspect as manufacturers cannot immediately change directions, Haas said. “That’s why it’s so important that when they put these specifications together they get them right and everybody agrees.” Haas F1 will get its power units from Ferrari after agreeing to a multi-year technical partnership with the Italian team. Haas did not reveal how much he pays for his engines. He only said, “Ferrari doesn’t do well at negotiations. They have a very premium brand and they charge a very premium price.” Despite the high price tag, Haas considers it a bargain. “You couldn’t build it on your own for less,” he said. The power units will be responsible for a substantial amount of the team’s total budget which Haas put at $100M-$110M for the first year. The cost, however, is nothing new for Haas, who is also the co-owner of NASCAR team Stewart-Haas Racing. “Basically we run four cars in NASCAR for what it will cost to run two cars in Formula 1,” he said. “But F1 pays better.”
