A simple solution for 'equal' performance after engine freeze

Although nothing is certain yet, we can now assume that Formula 1 is heading for a freeze on the motor event. There is only one tricky point that is still being debated. What to do with the backlog of some manufacturers as they enter the 'frozen period'? Michael Schmidt of Auto Motor und Sport might know a solution.

No one wants that, of course. Being forced to drive with a less powerful engine for years without any hope of improvement is a nightmare for any manufacturer. That is why Red Bull Racing and Ferrari, in particular, want there to be opportunities to equalise the differences after 2022.

The most logical way would be to give the laggard manufacturers the opportunity to continue developing by means of a few tokens. There is only one problem: as things stand, Red Bull cannot do this without Honda's help.

Toto Wolff's nightmare

And so simpler solutions could be looked at. Solutions that at least closely resemble the so-called 'Balance of Performance' principle that Toto Wolff is so critical of. In various GT and touring car championships this has been applied for years.

The most common way to implement this is through penalty weight. Cars with more powerful engines will then be made heavier. However, because this is specifically about equalising power, penalty weight would not make sense in this case.

The 2019 Ferrari trick

Journalist Michael Schmidt of Auto Motor und Sport therefore has a different idea. Full equivalence is not realistic according to him and so everyone should be satisfied with a margin of two percent. That comes down to 20 bhp. One can ensure that everyone stays within that margin, he says, by making the weaker engines consume more fuel.

In 2019, we saw with Ferrari how much difference this can make. It is also easy to implement and costs next to nothing apart from a little extra fuel. However, the chance that Mercedes in particular will agree to this is extremely small. According to them, this does not fit with Formula 1 at all.