Formula 1 could look very different in 2017 if the sport can agree on new regulations governing downforce, fuel, tyres and engines.
A meeting was held this week in Geneva involving the FIA, F1’s engine manufacturers and team representatives. On the agenda was ways to reverse the declining interest in the sport by making the cars harder to drive.
The key solution, and one put forward by F1’s Strategy Group and Power Unit Working Group (PUWG), is to increase horsepower from the present 800bhp to more than 1000bhp.
There is a worry it could result in escalated costs, but the PUWG believes the 1000bhp target can be met by simply modifying the current hybrid-V6 engines, rather than introducing a completely new engine formula.
Slight modifications, higher revs, an increased fuel flow rate and a higher fuel allowance, would be enough to reach the horsepower target and it could also help to address the noise issue which plagued the sport during the first few races of 2014.
The FIA believes this would make the cars harder to drive and thus increase the spectacle. Meanwhile, further changes to the way the cars look are being discussed.
The FIA wants radical looking cars to return with fewer aerodynamic restrictions allowing for greater downforce, larger rear tyres and an overall more aggressive look with 2016 or 2017 the likely date for the changes to be implemented.
Also discussed was ways to make the power units cheaper with the idea of standardised parts put forward, particularly the energy-recovery system (ERS).
