McLaren Exec Dir Zak Brown said that F1 teams "remain eager for the increased use of standard parts as a cost-cutting measure," according to Rowlinson & Barretto of MOTORSPORT.
As F1 embarks on the post-Bernie Ecclestone era, some focus "is being put on bringing costs under control while making the racing better."
The standardization of parts "has been discussed at length several times in previous years," and Brown believes it "would be a good way to reduce costs."
However, he insisted it "would not be the answer to all of F1's problems and thinks it should instead become part of a wider plan that includes a budget cap." Brown: "There are some that think we should standardize some parts. Teams have shown they're very clever."
Former Team Principal Ross Brawn, who is working in a three-man team alongside new CEO Chase Carey and Commercial Operations Managing Dir Sean Bratches, "has spoken about taking a long-term approach and moving away from reactive decisions F1 has recently been guilty of," such as the qualifying format tweaks early in '16 (MOTORSPORT, 2/9).
A COLD APPROACH: In a separate piece, Barretto reported Toro Rosso Team Principal Franz Tost said that F1's bosses "should freeze the Mercedes team's engine development until its rivals catch up." Mercedes has led the way in the V6 hybrid turbo era, which began in '14, with its power unit ahead of Ferrari, Renault and Honda. Mercedes' rivals "have closed the gap in the last couple of years, but Mercedes remains out in front and Tost believes something needs to be done."
He proposes the FIA "puts a freeze on the Mercedes engine to allow its rivals to catch up and then completely freezing development." Tost: "If the power unit parity is not coming then normally the FIA should come up with a regulation to freeze it. I would freeze the power unit from Mercedes, the others should catch up and then they freeze all of them" (MOTORSPORT, 2/9).
