Standard engine: Ilmor, AER, and Mecachrome candidates

Last month, the FIA made waves by revealing Ferrari’s veto against reducing the costs of hybrid engines sold to teams. It then threatened to launch a tender for the supply of a traditional engine that would be much cheaper than the 20 million currently demanded from teams.

This call for tenders, now completed, regarding the supply of a standard engine from the 2017 season has highlighted three serious applications.

Indeed, Advanced Engine Research, better known as AER, has already announced that it has the appropriate technology to manufacture a V6 turbo according to the specifications required by the FIA: « The fact that the FIA is looking for an engine like the ones we already have is extremely interesting. » stated Mike Lancaster, co-owner of AER to Autosport.

The company is already present in the ALMS championships and Endurance. It therefore already has an engine that meets the FIA’s required specifications, namely a maximum 2.5-liter V6, without an energy recovery system and with a maximum power of 900hp.

« We have produced an engine that exactly matches what the FIA is looking for, both very powerful, modern, and very efficient for racing. » adds Lancaster, while specifying that his company would be fully capable of supplying engines of this type starting from 2017.

On its side, the French company Mecachrome — which was already present in Formula 1 in the late 90s as an engine supplier, notably for Williams and Benetton — has also positioned itself as a candidate for supplying this new standard engine sought by the FIA, as explained by Jean-Charles Raillat, director of track activities at Mecachrome Group to our colleagues at *Motorsport*: “We won, a few months ago, the contract to supply the new GP3 engine, which we will provide from 2016, and which will be a 3.4-liter naturally aspirated V6. We have just won the supply of engines in GP2 from 2017 with a 3.4-liter turbo V6. The FIA’s specifications for the standard engine are quite similar to these two engines, as they are looking for a maximum of 2.5 liters. The base of our engines is well developed and perfectly compatible with the FIA’s requirements.”

The close ties between Mecachrome and Renault would not, however, influence a potential future choice of this engine, which has not yet been approved by the FIA.

On the other hand, the British engine manufacturer Ilmor, present in IndyCar, has also expressed interest in the project, unlike Cosworth, which rejected the idea, considering it too expensive.

But while many candidates already seem to be flocking to the doors of F1, it is not certain that the tender process will result in the awarding of a contract. Indeed, the current engine manufacturers (Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault, and Honda) will undoubtedly use all their influence to oppose it.

Especially since such regulation would require establishing a performance equivalence that is very difficult to enforce. This leads to a lot of discussions while the underlying issue is already known to everyone: the price of these new engines.