The FIA says it is on target to meet its deadline for the publication of the 2021 engine regulations at the end of June.
The basic concept of the 2021 engine was outlined by the FIA and Formula One in November last year, but working towards a more detailed set of regulations has taken some time. However, FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting is confident the regulations will be published by the end of this month.
“I think that target will be met and in great detail,” he said on Sunday.
F1 will still be racing with1.6-litre, V6 turbo hybrids in 2021, but they will feature a number of significant changes to reduce costs, boost power and improve the noise. Chief among those changes will be the removal of the MGU-H — the part of the hybrid system that recovers energy from the turbo — while fuel restrictions are set to be relaxed and the rev limit will be upped by 3,000rpm to 18,000 rpm to improve noise.
The FIA has been working with F1’s four existing engine manufacturers on the new rules as well as a new manufacturer, believed to be Porsche.
Whiting is confident the rule-making process is nearly finished after well over a year of meetings on the issue.
“The manufacturers are all involved in it so it is taking quite a long time because they are toing and froing,” he said. “It is very complicated and there’s been meeting after meeting after meeting on this so the reports I get on these appear to be very detailed.
“We are going into fine detail and I am fairly confident we are getting to the end of that process and at the end of that process we will have a far more detailed idea of what the power unit will be in 2021.”
Even though the same V6 turbo layout will be used, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is still concerned costs will escalate as the manufacturers develop two engines in tandem.
“The engine needs a lot of lead time, therefore the earlier, the better it is. The solution that we need to find is how we can avoid double the costs by developing two power units in parallel.
“Obviously our fight with our friends with Honda, Renault and Ferrari will continue until the very last race of 2020, and at the same time, the moment the rules are ratified, everybody needs to work on the other power units. I think this is one of the key points we need to discuss [at the next F1 Strategy Group meeting] on July 4.”