F1's New Engine Regulations Will Increase Costs For Customer Teams In '14

F1 cars will be powered by six-cylinder turbo engines starting in '14 under the racing series' new engine regulations that are supposed to "revolutionize F1," according to AUTO MOTOR UND SPORT. F1 team Toro Rosso will switch its engines from Ferrari to Renault. There are also rumors that Force India will switch from Mercedes to Ferrari engines in '14.

The regulations will allow current V8 engines to be replaced by 1.6-liter turbo engines with direct injection, integrated hybrid technology and drastically reduced gas mileage. The gas mileage of F1 cars "will increase by one-third." The cars will be allowed to carry only 100kg of gas (135 liters) during a race. Because Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault have each individually spent more than â‚¬90M ($115M) on the development of the new engines, the prices for their customer teams will also increase. Currently, all customer teams pay â‚¬8M ($10.2M) annually for the engine service. The prices for KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) fluctuate, depending on the provider, between â‚¬1M ($1.3M) (Ferrari) and â‚¬6M ($7.7M) (Mercedes).

In '14, customer teams can expect to pay up to â‚¬21M ($26.8M) for the whole package. Perhaps there also will be fluctuation depending on the manufacturer. The question that remains is, "what will happen to the two Cosworth teams HRT and Marussia, given they are still competing in '14?" Auto Motor Und Sport