This rule change for 2022 poses a risk: "There is a certain danger in that"

There's finally a real title fight going on in Formula 1 again, and teams are evenly matched both at the top and middle of the field. But what will the battleground look like after 2021? Peter Windsor spoke in a YouTube video with Craig Scarborough, a journalist who focuses primarily on the technical side of car and motorsport, about the future of Formula 1 engines after the 2022 rule changes.

"We have seen in 2021 that Honda has closed the gap to Mercedes. Ferrari has recovered from 2020, and Renault is also in good shape with their powerplant," said Scarborough. "The engines are finally close in Formula 1, and they're all pretty reliable too."

Formula 1 rule changes for 2022

Just when performance is matched, major rule changes are coming. "At the beginning of 2022 there is a date for the homologation of the new engines," Scarborough explains. "So the teams have time between now and that date to have their new engine ready."

"They can change as much of the engine as they want, within the rules of course. It's not within the budget ceiling. The problem is that until 2025 or 2026 they can only do very limited developments, so all manufacturers have to make sure they have a complete package ready," he continued.

The development freeze brings with it certain risks for manufacturers. "They are probably going to try to be aggressive. If they miss something they can't introduce it later, but if they do it too early you get reliability problems. There's a certain danger in that," Scarborough concludes.